Work on Cortalim service road kicks off

Panaji: Work has finally begun on the service road from from Cortalim junction to RK Marbles in Thane.
Officials from Dilip Buildcon Ltd, contractors for the new Zuari bridge, said that the service road would be ready for use in two months.
Once traffic on the Panaji-Margao route is diverted via this road on the Cortalim stretch of the highway, it will enable work to begin on the superstructure of the new Zuari bridge.
“We have started CNB, which is the preliminary cleaning, following which construction of the road will begin. The road will be completed in two months. The work on the new Zuari bridge can then enter its next phase,” said vice-president (constructions) Dilip Buildcon Ltd, Atul Joshi.
Land for the new service road has been provided by railway authorities and the two-lane road will run parallel to the railway line from Cortalim junction to RK Marbles. Once traffic is diverted via this road, it will increase travel distance from the Panaji to Margao route by around 2.5km.
Earlier, the state had worked out a diversion for traffic along the Panaji-Margao route via Chicalim. These plans were severely criticised by daily commuters on the route, as it would add 22 km to their journey.
Subsequently, it was decided to lease out land from farmers to construct a service road to shorten the distance, but this move received objections from farmers, who rejected the state assurance that their land would be restored later to its original state and returned.
Finally, a meeting was convened under former chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who then suggested using the land which is already in the possession of railway authorities to construct the new service road. Eventually, the shortest route was worked out, which adds 2.5km to the Panaji-Margao route.