Goemkarponn desk
PANAJI: The Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari’s dreams of a signature bridge with watch towers across Zuari will have to wait for some more years as the State has decided to keep the watch tower project on hold for now.
PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral said that the Watch Tower work will be kept on hold for now.
“The work of the two proposed towers (observatory and viewing galleries) atop the new bridge is not part of the original scope of the contract and will be considered later,” he said.
Cabral added, “the construction cost of the two towers is around Rs 300 crore, and it cannot be done in the present scope of the work”.
The minister said the government is trying to get the work done under public-private partnership (PPP) mode and on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis.
“PWD Goa division had even floated a tender to this effect, but we have received a lukewarm response,” he said.
Cabral says if the project proponent has to put in entire Rs 300 crore, that kind of revenue might not come, and the project may not be viable in PPP mode.
“We will have to look at alternative models,” he said.
During his visit to Goa last year, Gadkari had said it was his dream to see a signature bridge on Zuari.
Further, he gave September– October as a new deadline for opening a new Zuari bridge for the public.
“Four lanes of the bridge will be thrown open to the public by September- October. Earlier it was announced that 4 lanes of the bridge would be ready by the end of July,” he said.
He said when he inspected the bridge work along with department officials, he was told before August 15, that work of alignment of the bridge would be completed as per Dilip Buildcon officials.
“Testing will take place after that, and by Sept-Oct, the bridge will be thrown open for the public. The work of the remaining 4 lanes of the 8-lane bridge will be completed by April 2023,” he said.
He said commuters are currently faced with hardships due to heavy traffic jams at the existing Zuari bridge, especially during peak hours.
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