Viewing gallery on Goa's Zuari river bridge to be better tourist attraction than Eiffel Tower: Nitin Gadkari

The bridge is coming up parallel to the existing one on Panaji-Margao highway and is likely to be finished by next September. However, efforts are on to open at least one lane before that, the Union minister for road transport and highways said, addressing the inaugural function of the link of the national highway between Loutolim and an industrial estate located at Verna in South Goa.

"The work on the Zuari bridge is going on. We have planned a viewing gallery by constructing two towers as part of this bridge. It will be a better tourist attraction than Eiffel Tower. It will have a restaurant and art gallery besides special spaces for small time vendors to sell arts and crafts,” Gadkari was quoted as saying by PTI.

He also said that the Mumbai-Goa national highway will be completed in the next one-and-half years as the difficulties have been resolved.

Gadkari said Goa chief minister late Manohar Parrikar dreamt of creating such infrastructure for Goa and the projects he had proposed were now being completed.

Every day 66,000 vehicles pass though the Mandavi river bridge, which was inaugurated some time before Parrikar died (in March, 2019), he said, adding that the bridge has helped significantly reduce traffic jams in Panaji.

Since 2014, projects worth Rs 12,000 crore had been implemented in Goa, Gadkari said.

Further, a connector road to the upcoming Mopa airport will be built at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore, he said.