‘How’s The Josh?’ CM Parrikar Asks Goa; Inaugurates Atal Setu Over Mandovi Connecting Panaji And Porvorim 

The Goa government has decided to name the newly inaugurated cable-stayed bridge over River Mandovi as ‘Atal Setu’, in remembrance of former Indian prime minister and Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) stalwart the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Vajpayee was widely credited as the architect of India’s Golden Quadrilateral project.

The new bridge, considered as an iconic piece of state infrastructure, was inaugurated by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar in the presence of Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Sunday (27 January), Herald Goa reported.

Constructed by Larsen and Toubro (L&T), India’s third-largest cable-stayed bridge boasts of a four-lane 900-metre long span with a 620-metre cable stay portion and a 3.3 km viaduct approach.

The cost of the project is estimated to be around Rs 500 crore. The bridge connects Panaji with Porvorim an carries the National Highway 17 over the tidal part of the Mandovi River.

A massive crowd assembled at the venue to welcome Parrikar who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a year ago. He had earlier inspected the bridge in December last year despite ill health.

He has been recuperating at his private residence since 14 October last year, after he was discharged from the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in New Delhi.

A dream project of his, Parrikar is credited with conceptualising and overseeing its execution. The ailing Parrikar looked in excellent spirits and asked the crowd “How’s the josh”, a reference from the recently released film Uri. Parrikar was India’s defence minister during the time of the surgical strike.

Parrikar recalled how when he took over the reins of the state for the first time in 2002 he dreamt of transforming Goa by building world-class infrastructure.

“When I became CM for the first time, I had one famous statement in mind that of former president of US late John F Kennedy who had said, American roads are not good because America is rich, but America is rich because American roads are good. This famous statement was in my mind since childhood,” the Chief Minister said.

He recalled that he had crossed the old Mandovi Bridge just 15 minutes before it collapsed in the year 1986.

Parrikar also pointed out the budgetary limitations in launching development projects in Goa given its small size and ability to raise funding.

“Goa requires Rs 25,000 crore budget for development but Goa’s total budget size is Rs 15,000 crore. If we have to do it on our own, we will require 14 years. That is why we required some financial help,” he said.

Criticising the opponents for campaigning against the bridge on social media, Parrikar said the structure is constructed using the common man’s money. He added that it is the people who would be saving their money as they would save on fuel when they travel on this bridge.

“The bridge is completed due to people’s efforts. This is a project that was completed within five years,” he said.

Parrikar thanked former chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar for being present at the function and praised him for successfully steering the state during his absence when he shifted to Delhi as union defence minister in 2014.

Political circles in the state were agog with speculations that Parsekar was planning to rebel against the party and contest the upcoming bypoll as an independent candidate.

Union Minister for AYUSH Shripad Naik, MPs Narendra Sawaikar and Vinay Tendulkar, Speaker Dr Pramod Sawant, Cabinet ministers and ruling MLAs also attended the function.