It’s been nearly nine months since the box culvert bridge over the St Inez Creek near the Caculo Island was demolished to make way for the construction of a new one by Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC). But what is shocking is that till date the work has not been tendered. Due to lack of response from the bidders, the tenders were advertised twice, however still it failed to get bidder.
There is no clarity as to when the work will commence with the bidders showing no interest.
The construction work was supposed to be completed and the new bridge was to be thrown open for public from October (last month).
With the demolition of the old box culvert bridge, which was an entry point to 18 June road, municipal market and St Inez areas, the road access has been blocked thus resulting in overloading of the lane near Kala Academy and near Inox multiplex.
However, the situation is likely to worsen during the nine-day IFFI 2017 event, when the Inox lane will be closed for vehicular traffic.
The then Laxmikant Parsekar-led government, in January 2016, had announced the demolition of the existing facility and its reconstruction. Accordingly, in April 2017, GSIDC demolished the same.
In May, the District Magistrate ordered the closure of road from Shanta Building to Caculo Heritage Precinct till September 12 for all vehicles.
“The work is not been tendered yet. There is no response to the tender document. The work was supposed to be completed within five months,” a senior GSIDC official said.
Given the dilapidated condition of the box culvert bridge, it was announced to be a priority for the capital city and the project was estimated to cost around Rs 1.91 crore.
“Since it is low budget project, it looks like those bidders are not interested,” sources said.
GSIDC vice chairman Sidharth Kuncalienker had in April told Herald that the work of the bridge has commenced and that the project will be completed in eight months.
