VASCO: Goencho Avaaz Party (GAP) in a letter to the GSIDC demanded an investigation to fix accountability of rapid deterioration and constant closures of the relatively new Atal Setu.
The party regretted the cable stayed bridge that was marketed as an ‘engineering marvel’ ironically has turned into a bridge of shame. It showcases shabby, sub-standard and apparently poorly supervised work, which seems to have become the hallmark of projects executed by GSIDC, it claimed in a press statement issued on Thursday.
The party finds it disgraceful that just two years after the bridge was thrown open for vehicular traffic, large potholes developed necessitating closure of the Old Goa-Porvorim section of the bridge for 4 days in March.
This was not the first time that L&T had been asked to rectify faults in the bridge. It pointed out that in April last year the Merces arm was closed for traffic to repair the faulty approach road. Within a year Atal Setu’s south side approach ramp once again began to sink. GSIDC had to ask L&T to find a permanent solution to this ‘annual settlement problem.’ This section of the bridge had to be shut for three months.
The party asked why GSIDC, TPF Engineering Pvt Ltd and contractor L&T chose a marshy site for the building of the Merces side ramp.
It also critisised the escalating maintenance costs that the tax payers will have to bear in the years to come.
