Get new Mandovi bridge ready by January 12: Manohar Parrikar

PANAJI: Sending a strong signal to his critics and allies and taking everyone by surprise, ailing chief minister Manohar Parrikar on Sunday inspected the ongoing construction of the 4.43 km cable-stayed bridge over the Mandovi, which will serve as the third link between Porvorim and the capital city of Panaji.
Parrikar travelled along the entire length of the bridge in his vehicle, escorted by two police escort cars, as he reviewed the construction of the bridge, which is being built by L&T and directed the contractors to complete the bridge by January 12.

Parrikar, who turned 63 on December 13, has been recuperating at his private residence near here since October 14, when he was discharged from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. This is for the first time that Parrikar has moved out of the house since he returned from Delhi.
Manohar Parrikar spends nearly an hour on new bridge
The chief minister began his inspection of the bridge at around 3.30pm on Sunday accompanied by his son Utpal, three doctors and his personal secretary Rupesh Kamat.

“The chief minister stopped the car four times and even got down twice to see the view from the top of the bridge,” Kamat told TOI. “The chief minister asked the contractors to complete the bridge by January 12.”
On December 10, the chief minister’s office had tweeted from its official handle a detailed report by TOI on the status of the new Mandovi bridge.
The visibly frail chief minister quizzed officials from L&T and Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC). “He was happy to come on the bridge, which is his baby,” said another official, who was present with Parrikar. He spent nearly an hour on the bridge as he took in the view, and also stood on the bridge, while motorists and commuters clicked pictures of him from below.
Parrikar is understood to have ordered L&T to complete the illumination of the bridge by this year-end. “Hot mixing of the bridge will be started on Monday. Parrikar said the crash barriers and painting has to be completed by January 12,” said the source.
Sources added the BJP was trying to coordinate and see if Prime Minister Narendra Modi was free to travel to Goa for the inauguration. The impending announcement of the Lok Sabha elections, after which the model code of conduct will come into force has also prompted the January 12 deadline, sources added.
While inspecting the bridge, Parrikar noticed that two spans for the bridge on the Panaji side had yet to be installed. GSIDC officials informed him that traffic movement during the peak tourist season was posing a hurdle.
According to officials with the chief minister’s office, Parrikar instantly called deputy superintendent of police (traffic) Dharmesh Angle and directed him to deploy additional traffic police near the KTC circle .
Given that the massive bridge adds a new element to the city’s skyline, Parrikar suggested that the national flag could be flown from atop the pylons of the bridge at a height of around 35m.
Noticing that GSIDC and L&T officials were wearing construction hard hats, Parrikar said he did not want to break the law and attract criticism, especially from opposition Congress, and thus requested a hard hat for himself.