NT NETWORK
MAPUSA
Despite advance closure intimation of the Corjuem Bridge for repairs and painting work, officials failed to provide timely arrangement which led to inconvenience to villagers on Sunday morning.
The District Magistrate North ordered the closure of the Corjuem Cable Bridge at Aldona for all types of vehicular traffic between 7 a.m. and 8 pm, on May 22, for the purpose of maintenance and painting of the bridge. As a result ferry service was put into service for the convenience of villagers.
At 7 a.m. the bridge was closed by the contractor and villagers were told to use the ferry service. When the villagers proceeded towards the ferry jetty surprisingly there was no ferry boat on either end of the river. The jetty ramp was covered with huge layer of wet mud making the ramp non accessible.
Later a ferry boat arrived and was stationed on the Aldona side as the ramp could not be used. The matter was referred to the Aldona deputy sarpanch Deepak Naik who rushed to the site with a few labourers and got the entire ramp cleaned. Long queues were witnessed due to the operation of a single ferry.
Aldona deputy sarpanch Deepak Naik said that initially there was a delay in the ferry service as the ramp had to be cleared of wet mud. A villager Amarnath Panjikar who is also the president of North Goa congress block said, “No preparation was made for the use of the ferry service. The ramp could have been cleaned in advance instead of causing inconvenience to people”.