PANJIM: When the Atal Setu Bridge was inaugurated commuters anticipated a smooth ride, however, a few days after its inauguration the bridge was closed for repairs leaving commuters baffled.
But even as the flagship bridge is getting all the negative (and rightly so) attention for its shoddy state most bridges and flyovers in Goa are in a deteriorating condition, stained with potholes. These bridges could also be considered a death trap with accidents taking place or commuters having a close call with one.
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Commuters say travelling on these new roads is risky as it seems that the roads have been built without conducting thorough research. Fed up with the lingering dangers, locals have questioned if this bridge was constructed haphazardly. People have requested a service road while the government shuts down the bridges and repair them for good.
Activist Sanjay Barde also pointed out that tenders to such big projects are often given to contractors from outside Goa while Goans are given tenders to only build roads in the interior village areas.
He said ministers do not pay heed to such issues as they roam comfortably in big cars while the rest suffer in smaller vehicles that get damaged.
One commuter who travels daily from Porvorim to Panjim Satish said, “The taxpayers’ money is going to waste. It looks like we pay to take care of the government by paying taxes, as they don’t do anything.”
Meanwhile, the attention has again been focused on other frailties including corruption allegations against the Atal Setu construction. “The bridge has been built through corruption even the electric poles are not spared, through an RTI we discovered each of these poles cost around Rs 1, 35, 000 in spite of being expensive even they fell onto the road,” said Barde.
In fact, readymade slabs have been placed on the bridge, informs Barde. “The level of the road was uneven hence they hot mixed it and corruption crept in there as well,” he said.
“Despite the Atal Setu Bridge being relatively new, the road is in a bad condition. The roads are so bad that we can’t tell when an accident will take place,” added Satish.
Another commuter has said that he was almost involved in an accident on the bridge. “The bridge has so many potholes. I was almost involved in an accident because of the potholes,” he said questioning the use of the bridge.
