Goa gets third bridge on Mandovi river; Gadkari hails Parrikar

A 5.1-km long cable-stayed "Atal Setu" on the Mandovi river in Goa, a third such bridge to connect the state capital with North Goa, was Sunday opened to public by Union minister Nitin Gadkari.

The public event was attended for the first time since the last one year by ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who earned praise from Gadkari for his perseverance in following up the project.

"Parrikar has played a lion's role in the development of Goa. The inauguration of this bridge is completion of a dream of Parrikar," the Road Transport and National Highways Minister said.

The bridge is made of 1 lakh cubic metres of high strength, high performance concrete enough to fill 40 Olympic size swimming pools.

At 2.5 lakh tonnes, the weight of the humongous structure is equivalent to 570 Boeing aircraft.

Around 13,000 tonnes of corrosion resistant reinforcement steel, 32,000 square metres of structural steel plates and 1,800 kilometres of high tensile pre-stressing strands have gone into making the bridge.

The bridge has 88 high tensile strength cables in the state-of-art single place harp type cable stay system, and a real-time force monitoring mechanism.

"From the time I became minister, Parrikar came to meet me and told me that he had followed up this project with the then UPA government but they did not respond," he said.

Gadkari said Parrikar requested him to allow construction of the bridge.

"Parrikar said the bridge was already announced, and just a permission, not fund, is needed for its construction. Later, the GSIDC was given the task to work on this bridge. L&T was given the contract," Gadkari said.

The bridge is a joint venture between the GSIDC (Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation) and Larsen and Toubro.

"Parrikar approached me again seeking 50 per cent funding for the bridge. I was initially reluctant but due to Parrikar's request, I reverted back the file and decided to fund 50 per cent of the cost of the bridge," Gadkari said.

He said many challenges cropped up while constructing the bridge, but Parrikar fought them all.

Gadkari said his ministry has sanctioned various works worth Rs 15,000 crore for Goa.

"The credit for such infrastructure goes to the people of Goa who elected Shripad Naik (AYUSH Minister) and Narendra Sawaikar (BJP MP from South Goa)," he said.

The "Atal Setu" is expected to decongest Panaji, which receives approximately 66,000 vehicles every day, to a great extent.

Parrikar, 63, has been in and out of hospitals in Mumbai, Delhi and the USA since February 2018 for treatment of a pancreatic ailment.

He has been recuperating at his private residence near here since October 14 last year, after he was discharged from the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in New Delhi.

Parrikar could not attend the office of CM for long due to his illness.

He has not attended any public events except visiting his office at the state secretariat late last year on few occasions.

At the inaugural event this evening, the frail looking Parrikar was greeted with lusty cheers by people. He made a brief speech at the occasion.

The bridge is considered to be the CM's dream infrastructure venture.