PANJIM: PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral on Tuesday said that he will order an inquiry as to how a stall selling eatables and soft drinks was permitted on the new bridge on Monday.
At the same time, he added that the new bridge will be handed over to the government by the contractor on December 29.
He said from December 30 nothing will be allowed on the bridge except vehicular traffic.
Meanwhile, the new Zuari Bridge will be closed for visitors on Wednesday, December 28, due to preparations for inauguration slated at 6 pm next day.
The general public is therefore informed and requested to attend the inauguration ceremony on December 29. The new bridge was kept open for pedestrians to take photographs from December 25 and a larger number of people huddled on the bridge on Monday evening.
Cabral further said that speed limit on the new Zuari Bridge will be 40-km per hour. He said the restriction has been put because of two-way traffic which will be permitted over the four-lane bridge till the other four-lane leg of the bridge is ready.
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate the bridge at 6 pm on Thursday and the bridge will be thrown open for public from December 30, he added.
The government has set March 2024 as timeline for opening the second four-lane leg of the bridge constructed by M/s Dilip Buildcon Ltd. Speed restrictions will be removed once the second leg is opened up for traffic, he added.
Meanwhile, congratulating the Goa government for infrastructural development, the Goa Small Industries Association (GSIA) thanked the contractor for building such a marvellous bridge for the State without creating much inconvenience to the public. “We appreciate the speed of the work, in spite of several hurdles this bridge has been built without much accidents. We all must agree that it was a tough job to execute this work with continuous traffic flow underneath,” GSIA president Damodar Kochkar said.
