Finally, six deaths later, a bridge over Calvim

How many lives does it taketo reduce the distance between two places? The tragic accident that claimed thelives of six people, at Carona-Calvim ferry point in February of this year,spurred the government into action on a project that should have actually beenundertaken five years ago?

The BJP have promised toconstruct the bridge within eight months after the tragedy. With the governmentanswerable to the constituents of Calvim, the Bharitya Janta Party (BJP), havenow turned the construction of this bridge into their pet project. The CalvimBridge is vital for the villagers who commute the extra 10kms.

Ithas been more than a decade that the locals have been demanding a bridgeconnecting Calvim to Carona, in the village of Aldona. The bridge was proposedin 2007, when Dayanand Narvekar was the MLA of the constituency of Aldona but has done nothing since. The bridge is the subject ofcontroversy, specifically over the high tension wires, which are laid on thealignment of the bridge.

FreddyPontes ex Panch member of the Aldona village Panchayat said, “In my last term,I had proposed a resolution which was passed by the Gram Sabha in 2007 for theconstruction of the bridge for the Calvim villagers and sent to Narvekar”.

SaysNarvekar “There is a dire need for the bridge at Chorao, Divar, Gaundalim- Cumbarjuarather than at Calvim, as these villages have a much larger population. As theMLA, I had however proposed a bridge over Calvim river, which was estimated at35 crore rupees”. The bridge is now revised at 61.26 crore rupees.

MelvinFernandes, special attorney of Aldona Communidade said, “We have been demandingfor a bridge for years now but our voices have not been heard. It is only afterthe Calvim tragedy, that the need for a bridge has come forth in the spotlight”. 

The Stategovernment is in possession of the Non Objections Certificates from tenants,while they are yet to obtain Non Objection Certificates from private landowners. The Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) ishandling the Calvim bridge project and has now completed the soil testing work.

“Thework of the bridge will begin around July or August. The paper work however isstill in progress,” says Aldona MLA, Glen Ticlo.