Srinivas Kamat
We are 10 days into December 2017 and we have had already 2 massive traffic jams at the Cortalim junction in view of the 2nd Zuari Bridge construction. The first jam was a snorter blocking traffic for close to 3 hours and making hundreds miss their flights out of Goa. The second jam was kindlier lasting for about 2 hours when a crane turned on its side on the road from Cortalim junction towards Verna. At the same time at the 3rd Mandovi Bridge site in Porvorim traffic jams are a common occurrence but about a week ago when a truck broke down on the slope towards Panjim near the Assembly complex, traffic almost came to a standstill.
At both these sites, the government has been sadly insensitive to people’s needs. It is almost as if because they are building these huge bridges which as of now are being touted as the panacea for all traffic woes at these 2 locations, the people should tolerate these inconveniences however, big or small, that they may be. The position that the government takes is that people will bear with the inconveniences little realising that the patience of the people is reaching breaking point. This is more so because these huge projects will take years to complete and with further delays likely. So for years if people have to wend their way through traffic jams that impose uncertain delays in their commute times, there will come a time when the people will no longer tolerate the nuisance. This kind of situation is completely irresponsible on the part of government. Right from the beginning of the projects the government should have put in place alternate routes and/or alternate modes of transport to ease the traffic woes of commuters.
At the Mandovi bridge construction site there are alternate roads that could have been developed and widened at particular stretches like the ones at Betim and Britona that lead down to the river. These roads could have brought the traffic to the jetties for the river ferries which frequency could have been enhanced to take care of the increased traffic. These were being talked about before the project started with the most vocal proponent being the Porvorim MLA, Rohan Khaunte. It seems that after becoming a Minister his concern on these matters has vanished! At the Zuari bridge site the alternative of ferries to be used will to some extent alleviate the problem and at least provide a small release during traffic jams. But here again the approach roads need to be revamped, the jetties examined to see if they can handle more traffic and also get more ferries to operate. Al this should have been done a long time ago and well before the ground was first broken for the construction of these projects.
As for the Zuari bridge site temporary roads could have been built up to the site so that construction materials for the bridge could be moved there. The bridge could have been completed and after that the access roads to the bridge for regular traffic built. Instead of that presently the highway not only has to handle the regular traffic but also the traffic of heavy equipment like cranes etc. that are required for the bridge construction. This leads to delays and dislocation of the regular traffic. Apart from the crane collapse as stated above there are bigger accidents that are likely to happen if we continue to use the highway as of now. At the Mandovi site we have already had a similar crane collapse and 2 fatalities already since the project started. It should not be that as the pace of construction picks up the number of accidents increase, related to both construction and the normal traffic, and the fatalities see an upsurge.
As we go into the peak tourist season end-Dec the traffic jams at both the Mandovi and Zuari bridge locations will be on the increase and the dislocations longer in duration, unless the government becomes conscious of these problems and initiates action. Like they say becoming aware is the first step in resolving a problem. But if the government prefers to continue with its present wait and watch policy then both commuters and tourists will be in for a harrowing time for the remaining part of the year in the first instance and until both projects are complete a couple of years down the road.
