Panaji: With work commencing to tarmac the six-lane elevated corridor at Porvorim, PWD minister Digambar Kamat on Thursday said that the department hopes to complete the entire project in time for Ganesh Chaturthi. “I have requested the contractor that the inauguration of the bridge should be on the eve of Ganesh Chaturthi,” said Kamat.
The minister was speaking at a ceremony marking the commencement of the hot-mixing phase of the flyover, a key milestone in the over Rs 450 crore project. Work on the 5.1-km-long corridor has been progressing at a brisk pace, prompting the government to shift its target from earlier deadlines. If the flyover does get opened for traffic in September, it will be ahead of the earlier October-November deadline, he said.
“We want to send a message to the people of Goa that PWD means business. We will try to commission most of the projects before the deadline. We will also try to commission the bridge at Dabolim before the deadline,” said Kamat.
Kamat added that Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte and Saligao MLA Kedar Naik have been persistently following up with the PWD and the contractor to get the Porvorim flyover completed as quickly as possible. “We were asking the contractor during the meetings to complete and commission the bridge by October-November. The contractor has not compromised on the quality of the work. We have got feedback that this is good quality work,” said Kamat.
Khaunte, who is also the tourism minister, said, “Our request has always been to complete the project quickly so that a lot of the issues could be cleared. When the six-lane corridor is opened, it will serve as the main channel for tourists going to the beach belt, for travellers going towards the airport,” said Khaunte.
