Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday inaugurated the six-lane elevated corridor on NH-66 at Porvorim, built at a cost of Rs 641 crore. The road will be opened to the public on September 11. Gadkari also launched work on the twin towers and viewing gallery atop the new Zuari bridge. At 13.20 km, the Zuari Bridge is the country’s second-longest cable-stayed bridge. Two 125-metre-high tourist observatory towers, a re volving restaurant and an art gallery are proposed to be built at the bridge. He also urged the authorities to complete the projects as early as possible.
Speaking at the inaugu ration of the Porvorim el evated corridor, he said it will ensure seamless road connectivity to the Mopa International Airport and Maharashtra and urged the Goa government to ensure that top-quality amenities are provided along the high ways for tourists. Speaking about the insep arable bond between Goa and Maharashtra, Gadkari said that the highway con necting Mumbai through the Konkan belt all the way to Goa was of immense emotional and economic significance. “The delays on the Mum bai–Goa Highway (NH-66) have been a matter of dis tress. However, the Mum bai–Goa Highway is now nearly 93% to 94% com pleted. This October, I plan to land at Mumbai airport, travel the entire stretch to Goa by car, and personally inspect every kilometre of the completed corridor,” the Union Minister said. Gadkari said six road pro jects in Goa had not begun due to pending tree-cutting permissions. He asked the Goa government to hold a joint review meeting re garding this with the Union Road Transport Ministry.
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He also urged the State govern ment to remove roadside encroachments and develop highway amenities offer ing food, local handicrafts and other facilities and to prioritise comprehensive green landscaping along the highway to turn the entire stretch into a true Green Highway. On the occasion, Gadka ri announced that work on the 10-km Ponda-Bhoma stretch, valued at Rs 557 crore, would begin in Octo ber 2026 and be completed by October 2028. The agen cy for the work has been finalised, he added. He fur ther assured approval for developing the remaining 34-km stretch of the Hyder abad-Goa corridor connect ing Telangana, Karnataka and Goa of which the Bhoma flyover and bridge is a part. The seven-km Bhoma-Old Goa stretch, estimated at Rs 1,007.21 crore, is at the tendering stage, he added. Work will begin within two months of receiving the necessary clearances. The project includes a flyover, road overbridge and major bridge, said Gadkari.
The project remains con tentious, with Bhoma res idents opposing the wid ening or construction of a flyover along the existing highway and demanding a bypass outside the village instead. Referring to an earlier meeting with a local delegation, Gadkari said a 76-metre-span bowstring bridge had been proposed only to protect the Bhoma temple and its lake. He also announced Rs 30 lakh for beautification of the temple lake. He, however, did not address the residents’ de mand for a bypass. The Goa PWD signed an MoU with IIM Nagpur to prepare an effective mobil ity and traffic management plan for decongesting the State’s roads and reducing accidents, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said. IIM Nagpur will study accident-prone junctions across Goa and submit its report within the next six months. Necessary correc tive measures based on its recommendations will be implemented within a year, Sawant added.
PWD Minister Digam bar Kamat urged Gadkari to approve several major infrastructure projects in Goa. He sought approv al for the Rs 1,922-crore new Borim bridge, Rs 2,196-crore four-laning of the Mollem-Khandepar stretch, a four-lane Green field highway from NH-66 to ONGC-Betul and the western section of a four lane Panjim ring road. Ka mat also requested that two routes covering Karaswa da-Sankhali-Pale-Usgao-Da bal-Sanvordem-Curchorem and Balli-ONGC-Betul roads be declared as national highways. Road development works worth Rs 16,763 crore have been undertaken in Goa over the past 12 years of which projects worth Rs 9,155 crore have been com pleted and works valued at Rs 7,608 crore are ongoing, informed govt. Another Rs 6,000 crore will be invest ed in two projects covering 42-km. These include the 34-km Anmod Ghat-Mollem stretch of NH-748, estimat ed at Rs 4,200 crore and the eight-km Borim bridge pro ject across the Zuari river on NH-566, valued at around Rs 1,900 crore, it was in formed.
