No toll plaza on internal roads in Goa: Union Minister

PANJIM: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari assured the State government that no toll plaza will be levied on internal roads within the State and that the construction work of the elevated corridor at Porvorim will start from January. 

He also announced construction of a new parallel road from Sankhali-Chorla-Belgaum, after chairing a review meeting of ongoing national highway works in the State on Saturday. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho and officials of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and PWD were present at the meeting held at the Convention Centre Hotel, Dona Paula.  

After the meeting, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that the meeting discussed the status of major infrastructure projects underway in the State. Deliberations took place on how to expedite the pace of construction and allied activities related to highways in the State.

Sawant said that Mopa Link Road (NH-166S) connecting Mopa airport to National Highway at Dhargalim will be completed by April 2024. This bridge will have a pillar that will have maximum height in the country.

Sawant said that the actual work of the six-lane elevated corridor at Porvorim will commence January 2024 end.

He said that during the review meeting, administrative approval was given for the Margao Western Bypass. Regarding Port Connectivity, the highway connecting Mormugao Port Authority (MPA) will be completed by April next year.

The Chief Minister stated that the construction of the new Borim Bridge is under purview of National Highway and that a tentative approval has been granted.

The meeting further decided appointment of a consultant for the proposed Ring Road to curtail highway congestion (Mumbai-Kanyakumari and Goa-Hyderabad).

The Chief Minister said that the proposed parallel road from Sankhali to Khanapur, Belagavi via Chorla will be constructed following environment protocols, while, the Anmod-Sugar Factory-Khandepar Highway construction work will commence soon. Sawant said that there will be no toll for internal roads in the State as the Government of India has approved proposal to make all internal roads in Goa toll free.