Days after Goa flyover unveiled, curbs leave commuters fuming

Following an accident that left two dead, certain temporary restrictions have been placed on the six-lane elevated flyover in Porvorim. These include ban on entry of two-wheelers and entry and exit points towards another bridge being shut off.

Days after the new six-lane elevated flyover in Goa’s Porvorim was inaugurated and opened to vehicular traffic, government authorities are facing severe criticism for imposing certain “restrictions”, including banning the entry of two-wheelers on the flyover and shutting off entry and exit points towards another bridge.

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the six-lane elevated corridor at Porvorim on National Highway-66 on September 9. It was opened to the public two days later.

However, a little over 24 hours after it opened for vehicular traffic, two people were killed after a speeding Baleno car collided with a scooter and a truck from behind on the flyover at the corridor’s southern end.

The scooter driver, Sarvesh Vengurlekar (40), who hailed from Maharashtra, and Amita Salgaonkar (39), a native of Goa, who was seated in the car, succumbed to the injuries in the collision.

The Goa government responded by imposing certain “temporary traffic restrictions”, with a notification of Public Works Department (PWD) calling it necessary “to assess and monitor the actual traffic movement, traffic pattern, congestion levels and operational performance of the elevated corridor.”

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari (in blue kurta) inaugurated the six-lane elevated corridor at Porvorim on National Highway-66 on September 9. (Express photo)

The notification said the movement of all two-wheelers shall be prohibited on the corridor and diverted them to service roads below it. It further said that “all entry and exit points and accesses towards the Atal Setu side shall remain closed”, except for emergency or essential services.

The latter move to effectively barricade the main exit leading to Panaji has led to traffic chaos and angered commuters.

Atal Setu, which runs over the Mandovi river in Panaji, serves as a bypass for people travelling from north to south without entering Panaji. Both Atal Setu and Porvorim elevated corridor run along the national highway 66 and serve as the main bypasses for the heaviest traffic stretches in the state along Panaji and Porvorim.

The interchange point between Atal Setu and the elevated corridor in Porvorim has been shut due to the restrictions imposed after the recent mishap. The closure of this interchange means commuters can only use the two only if they want to bypass both Panaji and Porvorim.

“For a commuter travelling from Mapusa towards Porvorim, if they take the bridge, they have to go till the Merces circle petrol station roundabout and then return to Porvorim. It will increase commute time. It makes no sense to block the exits on Atal Setu,” said Jason de Souza, a local.

The move has effectively stranded residents of Porvorim and increased traffic congestion along service roads, especially along the Hotel Neo Majestic intersection, which has been shut.

“We had to suffer for several years as the elevated corridor was under construction. There were so many diversions on the way to work. Now that the flyover is ready, the people of Porvorim cannot use it due to the closure of this exit point. This is bizarre,” said Prthvir Solanki, a Porvorim resident.

Tourism Minister and BJP MLA from Porvorim Rohan Khaunte on Thursday echoed some of the concerns regarding the temporary restrictions imposed after the recent mishap on the elevated flyover. “I have spoken to the PWD Minister [Digambar Kamat] and asked him to convene a meeting on the Porvorim flyover issue. The people of Porvorim have suffered during the construction of the flyover and they should now benefit from it,” Khaunte told the media.

Khaunte said he was “not taken into confidence” regarding the recent decision to impose restrictions, referring to them as “knee jerk”. “The government needs to acknowledge the feedback from the people and act immediately upon it. There were some immediate decisions that were taken without discussions with anybody. So, what the people of Porvorim are saying is justified. There have to be long-term measures that should be taken to fix the issue. If there has been a fault on this particular part of the flyover, then one needs to look at what can be done and find a solution for it. The restrictions need to be reviewed and corrective measures need to be taken,” he added.

On some waterlogging witnessed on the new corridor due to rain, he said, “Responsibility needs to be fixed on those engineers, who are doing the work like horses…without applying their mind.”

A PWD official, requesting anonymity, said a meeting has been called later this week to review the situation.

Authorities had said the new corridor will strengthen connectivity between Panaji, Porvorim, Mapusa and North Goa, while improving access towards Mopa International Airport and neighbouring areas of Maharashtra.

The 5.15-km long corridor, built at a cost of Rs 641 crore, which aims to ease one of Goa’s most congested urban traffic stretches, was opened for the public on September 11.

As per government estimates, the corridor is expected to carry between 75,000 and 80,000 vehicles a day, with a majority of traffic comprising of people rushing to their offices to Panaji and tourists travelling between the capital city and popular coastal beach belt areas of North Goa.