Traffic diversion, slow over bridge work put students answering exams in hardship

MARGAO: The diversion of traffic, besides slow pace of work of railway over bridge at Margao, have now resulted in major hardships to the student community, who are answering their exams. Commuters in general have also complained about the same, and urged the concerned authorities to expedite the repair work.

However, Sumit Sharma, engineer at the site said that the ongoing work will be completed before the deadline. 

On Friday, Herald observed that several parents were seen facing hardships to reach out to the schools located in the commercial town of Margao in order to drop their kids on time due to traffic diversion in wake of repair work of railway over bridge. 

At the same time, the student communities from other parts were also noticed struggling to cross the bridge. 

At the moment, the work of repair is at a very slow pace, and there are hardly few workers seen at the site engaged in minor works. One side of the bridge has been completed with the hot-mix, but major work is still to be carried out, and there is no sign of speedy execution of the pending work. 

As per the public notice issued by the Public Works Department, the said repair work of this flyover bridge needs to be completed by March 30, but the slow pace of work has not only resulted in delay but added more hardships to the public in general, more importantly to the student community, who are answering their exams. 

Mahesh Amonkar, local councillor, demanded the PWD to expedite the work, and also warned of agitation if not completed on time.

“It is very shocking to note that the concerned authority is least bothered about the general public, and of the student community about the hardships faced by them due to this low pace of repair work,” he said. 

He further said, “It has been noticed that there was no work carried out for the last few days, and they are simply dragging the work.” 

“I have seen how the parents and their kids are struggling to reach out to the schools on time due to this mess over here,” he added. 

Evon Fernandes, from Chinchinim and whose kids are studying at one of the town schools in Margao, also expressed anger over the repair work of the flyover bridge. 

“We are not against the repair work of the bridge, but at the same time the concerned authorities should have taken the note of the student community, and more importantly the days of exams in order to avoid the hardships,” she stated. 

She further added that the people are facing lots of inconvenience due to the slow pace of work over here.

It is pertinent to note that recently local resident and former chairperson of Margao Municipal Council Savio Coutinho had also raised his voice against the mismanagement, besides shoddy and haphazard work.

“First and foremost, the peeling layer of the concrete wear coat has exposed the shoddy and haphazard work executed during the construction of the railway over bridge. The surface after peeling off the wear coat has exhibited how severely uneven the concrete slab was laid. Due to this unevenness, the concrete wear coat layer was of uneven thickness, which resulted in potholes, exposing the steel within,” said the convenor of Shadow Council of Margao.

However, Sumit Sharma, engineer at the site said that the work will be completed by March 27 that is before the deadline. 

“Yes, we have noticed the hardships faced by the commuters, along with students these days. We are trying our level best to complete the repair works before the given time,” he said.

He also said that the work of hot-mixing the second lane will be done in the next one or two days, as the digging and cleaning has almost completed.