Read the article on the Navhind Times website, under the heading:
Panaji-Vasco sea link is viable, say consultants
I think it is bad news for the people of Panjim. Nobody questioned the
viability of the sea link.
But what about the quality of life for the people of Panjim?
The Government is not able to provide 24x7 supply of water to the city, cannot
provide uninterrupted
power nor take care of the garbage! And here they are out to create a link that
will help them
pocket a great chunk of money!
It will indeed be a shame if this was implemented without ever trying to take
care of the day to day
needs of Goans. The speed at which they are trying to invite bids and finalize
this project is indeed
sickening.
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PANAJI: At least 15 top-class consultants have shown keen interest
in the Panaji-Vasco sea link project
and said that the project was not
only economically viable but also technically feasible and that on
completion
it would be a great asset to the state.
Some of the consultants, who recently attended the pre-bid meeting
in the state, told ‘The Navhind Times’
that the project was challenging
but they would like to take up the challenge and execute it, under
public-private partnership, even as they added that it was economically
viable for them as well as for the state.
They further said that the
project that was similar to that recently completed in Mumbai would be
a great asset
to the state besides being a great tourist attraction. It
would not only reduce travel time but also help save fuel
to a great
extent, besides cutting pollution levels, they added.
The project
would reduce around 25 kilometres distance between Panaji and Vasco and
help cut the travelling
time by at least half an hour and also help
save “precious” fuel by at least two litres. They said that an
estimated 5,000 vehicles would be using the link once it was completed.
They
also said that unlike in case of other projects, the government would
not have to acquire land for
the project and that it would also help in
cutting the pollution and ease congestion on the roads, besides
facilitating movement of container traffic from the port city of Vasco.
The project would not lead to much
displacement of people, they added.
The project was also expected to give a boost to the economic activity
in the state and also provide quick connectivity to the people
travelling from Dabolim airport. It would also
provide quick
connectivity from Mopa, where a new international airport project is
billed to come up, to the
people from South Goa.
Meanwhile, the
state officials informed that the sea link between Panaji and Vasco
would be around five
kilometres long and could be completed within the
estimated cost of Rs 1,000 crore. The Mumbai project
cost the
Maharashtra government around Rs 850 crore, they added.
They also
said that in addition to Rs 150 crore pledged by the state, the Centre
would contribute to the
tune of Rs 400 crore for the completion of the
project and the firm that wins the bid would pump the remaining
amount
of Rs 450 in the project. The PPP cell of the state government was
handling the project in the best
professional manner, they said.
The
state government was expected to finalise the technical and financial
bids by December 15 and award contract.
The last date for submitting
the bids would be November 25.
