Team Herald
MARGAO: The new Chandor road over bridge, which is expected to cut travel time between Margao and Chandor by 20 minutes, was inaugurated on Friday.
The bridge which connects Chandor and Curtorim has been a long pending demand as citizens were facing a lot of traffic blocks due to the railway crossing, where vehicles had to halt for long stretches of time.
However, the villagers of Chandor, Guridolm and surrounding areas has raised various concerns about the height of the bridge, the size of the approach roads and how the bridge and the increased traffic on the village roads would impact the area.
PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral said that he had consulted with the villagers and the former Sarpanchas and the former Cuncolim MLA as this issue is a long standing one and all their concerns were taken into consideration. He gave the example of another subway that was constructed, which proved to be a practical solution despite opposition from locals. He said he was glad that there have been two monsoons and no flooding issues at that subway.
Curtorim MLA Lourenco added that the new bridge would not only help commuters in that area but traffic on other roads will be reduced as it will be diverted to these roads now.
Both Lourenco and Cuncolim MLA Yuri Alemao, who is also the Leader of Opposition, asked that PWD find a way to expedite its tendering process so that such public works are completed faster.
While Lourenco and Alemao also thanked the Minister for changing the State highway passing through Chandor and other villages into a Major District Road, the LoP asked the PWD minister to also consider the demands of the locals of Cuncolim from Panzorconi and Combam who are concerned about the potential collateral damage that would be caused by the proposed highway expansion there.
