The PWD Minister Churchill Alemao today blamed the previous minister for the delay in the completion of the Agassaim bypass, which he said would now be ready by December 20.
The work on the 3.9 kilometers stretch of Agassaim bypass, linking Sirdona to Agassaim, started way back in July 2007 and was supposed to be completed in a year but for some reasons or the other has been delayed.
“The previous minister is to be blamed for the delay as there was no planning when the project started in 2007, causing a lot of confusion,” Churchill told reporters, after inspecting the work at the site.
Substantiating his claim, Churchill said the earlier minister had not planned a overpass near Agassaim church, resulting in protests from the Church and the residents. Churchill also blamed the protests against the hill-cutting for the delay.
“We were not getting mud for the project as the NGOs started protesting against hill cutting,” he said adding “if we do not get mud how can we carry out development work? People must understand this now.”
Churchill also asked the contractor Delcon Engineering Pvt Ltd to complete the work by December 20, paving way for its inauguration.
However, the date seemed unrealistic as the work on the overpass is far from over besides the hot-mixing and the work on approach road for overpass still to be completed.
While the minister blamed the previous government for delay, Herald enquiries have revealed that the minister has been in charge of the department ever since the project started.
“The project started in July 2007 while Churchill took over the portfolio in August 2007, so how can he blame others,” some sources said . Sources sighted the reason for the delay being only one and that is all the four work tenders have been given to one contractor Delcon Engineering.
Further, the sources said the work was originally estimated at Rs 4 crore, while now the actual cost is come to rs 12.5 crore. “Delcon has been awarded work orders for land filling, soiling, hot-mixing as well as the overpass,” sources said “how is it possible to finish so many works in time?”
Meanwhile, if the overpass work is completed the PWD is planning to divert the traffic on the road on Dec 2 and 3 to reduce traffic congestion in view of the St Francis Xavier feast at old Goa.
[Source]
