From beacons of hope to places of horror, a tale of two bridges

Team Herald

PERNEM/MAPUSA: The lights on Aronda and Calvim bridges haven’t illumined the place since last many months.

The Aronda Bridge that connects Goa and Maharashtra is under darkness since last many months, inconveniencing commuters after the nigh fall.

Before the Maharashtra government built the Aronda Bridge across the Tiracol river, people from that State had to rely on risky and infrequent ferry services to cross over the river. Therefore, the Aronda Bridge was built to alleviate the difficulties of the people and to facilitate easy mobility.

According to statistics, a lot of people from Maharashtra work in the hotel industry in Goa, which operates in shifts; and those who work on night or late night shifts are the most inconvenienced due to lack of illumination on the bridge.

Darkness attracts crime and evil: with the Aronda Bridge in darkness since many months, some local youth have invaded and converted the bridge into an open air bar, where they drink and party all night.

A hotel management student, who takes the bridge daily, said, “I am doing internship in a hotel due to which I travel late at night through this route. Since the Aronda Bridge is not illumined since many months, it is scary to travel through this route.”

Same is the situation at Calvim Bridge. This bridge is in darkness since last five months. The Calvim Bridge was built after the tragic bus accident in which seven persons, including four students had died. 

Calvim Bridge was touted as one of the major achievements of the Manohar Parrikar-led government. Parrikar called it the state-of-the-art bridge, but it is in a sad state in the absence of lighting.

Until the Calvim Bridge was built, ferry boats and the Aldona bridge were the only access to the outside world for the Calvim villagers. While the ferry boats are dangerous and risky, the Aldona bridge route is a long winding one.

With the construction of Calvim bridge, the villager heaved a huge sigh of relief. But of late, commuting across the bridge has become a nightmare as it has become a den of anti-social elements who hold booz parties there under the cover of darkness.   

Asserting that the government has a duty to provide good road service and security to the people, a local complained, “Keeping the bridge in dark is not a good sign of development. The lights on this bridge haven’t been functioning since October and the local MLA hasn’t bothered to repair them.”

Aldona Panch Freddy Pontes said, “The issue was not taken up in the panchayat meeting due to elections. Now that the elections are over, we will soon be sending a notice to the Tourism Department to repair/restore the lights.”