PONDA: The much-needed approach road to the new Khandepar bridge and the construction of a bus shelter at the Opa-Khandepar junction are crucial to the safety of both, motorists and young, school-going students using public transport. But years have gone by without government intervention and the situation remains as treacherous as before.
In 2018, the state inaugurated the new Khandepar bridge amid much fanfare, but the construction of an approach road has yet to be completed. Local resident Sandeep Parkar said the issue had been pending in court but was settled two years ago. Work on the project, however, has not picked up pace, prompting heavy traffic from NH 4-A to take a diversion onto the old Opa-Khandepar junction, posing a grave risk to the lives of hundreds of students who wait at that point, day in and day out, to catch a bus to their respective schools.
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“To make matters worse, there is no dedicated bus shed at the junction. The roadside PWD-acquired land meant for construction of the shed has been encroached upon by a shopkeeper,” Parkar said. “Despite the deputy collector and the State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights taking cognisance of the absence of a bus shelter at the junction, nothing has been done.”
Locals have continuously been demanding for a bus shed at the junction to protect the students waiting there from accidents that could occur should speeding vehicles taking a diversion from the national highway collide into them.
“The Curti-Khandepar panchayat and PWD must coordinate to get the encroachment at the Opa junction removed so that a bus shelter can be built there. Simultaneously, the long-pending approach road to the new Khandepar bridge must be built at the earliest to mitigate any possibilities of horrific accidents and loss of lives,” Parkar said.
Just last month, chairperson of the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Peter Borges, had inspected the Opa-Khandepar junction in the presence of officials from various government departments, and had directed the panchayat secretary to sort out the matter.
Curti-Khandepar sarpanch Naved Tehsildar said the panchayat has now resolved to ask the PWD to identify and demarcate its land at Opa junction so that work on the bus shed can be expedited. The official of PWD’s Division XVIII, under whose jurisdiction the bus shed area falls, could not be contacted as he was learnt to be on leave.
Meanwhile officials of the National Highway Authority of India have said that they have initiated the process for constructing an approach road to the new Khandepar bridge and that work would begin soon.
