Goa: HC bars heavy traffic over crumbling Sattari bridge

PANAJI: In a bid to avoid any mishaps, the high court of Bombay at Goa has directed that no heavy vehicular traffic be permitted over the dilapidated bridge at Vante, Sattari, until it is repaired.
“…We expect that by November-end 2021, repairs of the bridge would take place. However, until then, the authorities are to see that no heavy vehicular traffic goes over the bridge,” a division bench comprising Justice Sunil P Deshmukh and Justice Mahesh Sonak said.
The government admitted that the condition of the bridge was not very good and that a report had accordingly been prepared.
Advocate General Devidas Pangam told the court that immediate repairs are difficult due to the ongoing monsoon season and that the authorities would have to wait for some time. He added that stoppage of heavy vehicular traffic movement over the bridge is on.
In his petition before the court, Sattari resident Vighnesh Shirgurkar said that the heavy traffic movement that the bridge experiences during the morning hours would have to be stopped.
“In the circumstances, the authority concerned would, with the aid of the police, see that heavy vehicular traffic does not go over the bridge until it is repaired. The learned advocate general states that soon after the monsoon is over, repair of the bridge would be undertaken and on completion of repairs, the bridge would be made available for heavy traffic,” the court held.
Shirgurkar, in a letter, had requested the high court to take cognisance of the serious condition of a bridge and road located between land survey numbers 60/1 and 110/1 in the village of Vante, Sattari. He stated that the bridge was in a ramshackle state and was likely to collapse, and pleaded for immediate measures to avert untoward incidents. His letter was accompanied with photographs. He also requested that heavy traffic over the bridge be stopped.
The court had subsequently issued notice to the state through the chief secretary and the executive engineer, sub-division-IV, works division-XVI (PWD), Valpoi, Sattari.