Cong leaders threaten to stage ‘Zuari bridge march’ from Agassaim
the goan I network
MARGAO
Stating that the Congress workers had only resorted to Gandhigiri by undertaking the “Zuari bridge march” to highlight the plight of commuters hit by traffic snarls, Congress leaders on Thursday set three-day deadline on the government to streamline traffic on the Margao-Panaji or face “Zuari bridge march” from the Agassaim side.
Addressing the media here after the police took the Congress leaders under preventive detention, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Girish Chodankar said the purpose of the Zuari bridge march from the Cortalim junction was only to highlight the issue given that the government management in addressing traffic snarls along the Verna-Cortalim-Zuari Bridge-Agassaim-Bambolim stretch on the national highway had collapsed. “We have made a host of suggestions to the South Goa District SP that the police instead of issuing challans for traffic violations should help regulate traffic. We have also suggested to immediately remove the potholes along the route and ensure smooth traffic movement,” he said.
Girish further said that the Congress has suggested to the authorities to start the ferry services to minimise the traffic load on the bridge.
Nuvem MLA Wilfred D’Sa said the government has not paid attention to widen the existing road from Cortalim junction, which would have given big relief to the commuters. “Since there is overtaking by unscrupulous four-wheeler drivers, the stretch needs to be barricaded to stop jumping of queues,” the Nuvem MLA added.
Goa Pradesh Mahila Congress chief Pratima Coutinho said the PWD Minister ought to have been at the Zuari Bridge today to see for himself the hardships faced by the people. “We had only planned a peaceful march, but the government mobilised huge police force, converting the entire area near the Cortalim junction a fortress,” she said, while giving three days time for the government to streamline the situation or face another march to the Zuari bridge from the Agassaim side.
Congress general secretaries Altinho Gomes and Urfan Mulla, South Goa district president Joe Dias, Jana Bhandari and others attended the media briefing.
