MARGAO
Planned with an avowed objective to decongest the town and divert all heavy national highway traffic via the bypass, the Cuncolim road bypass on the National Highway 66 has hit a dead-end.
Five years after the Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways on April 25, 2017, wrote a letter to the State PWD Chief Engineer that the Centre has settled for alternate-III of the Cuncolim bypass alignment, the fate of the bypass project hangs in balance.
While the bitter controversy over the bypass alignment has thrown the project out of gear, increasing heavy traffic on the existing highway passing right through the Cuncolim market has only added to the woes of locals, with traffic snarls every day and serpentine queues of vehicles along the market stretch the order of the day.
It is feared in PWD as well as in local circles that if the bypass could not take off five years ago after the alternate-III alignment had found favour with the Centre, it may take another half-a-decade, if not more, for the project to become a reality given that the PWD is not in possession of the land required to build the bypass.
When The Goan approached PWD, NH Executive Engineer Dattaprasad Kamat to shed light on the fate of the Cuncolim bypass, he said the issue over the bypass alignment has not yet been resolved.
Given the situation, he said that since the consultant roped in by the government could not complete the topographical survey along the alignments, the decision adopted by the Union Ministry of Road five years ago in 2017, in support of alternate-III still stands.
The Centre’s decision to go in for alternate-III of the bypass alignment had kicked up a raging controversy around five years ago as alternate-III was proposed along the existing highway, right up to Uskini bandh, Cuncolim before taking a left turn and joining the existing highway after the Primary Health Centre, Balli.
The agitation against this alignment, led by incumbent MLA Yuri Alemao, demanded that the National Highway Authority sticks to alignment-I, which starts at Sirlim and then runs parallel to the Konkan railway tracks at Sarzora before it joins the National Highway after the PHC, Balli.
The third proposal, alternate-II, running along the existing National Highway right up to Panzorcone, takes a left turn towards the east before it runs parallel to the railway tracks and proceeds further to join the NH after the Balli PHC.
Locals lamented that the Cuncolim bypass, which was mooted over a decade ago, is yet to see the light of the day. They said that while the narrow National Highway road passing through the Cuncolim market has remained the same over the years, traffic on the NH 66 has increased manifold, causing traffic snarls in the town.
Newly-elected Cuncolim MLA Yuri Alemao, who had taken up the cudgels for the people demanding the bypass alternate-I alignment, running parallel to the Konkan railway tracks, said he would seek a detailed status report on the Cuncolim bypass from the government in the ensuing Assembly session.
“After my election, I had a meeting with PWD officials, who too seemed to be in the dark over the final alignment as well as the land acquisition. The bypass has been notified on the RP 21 and should be honoured by the government. I will stand for the alignment which will cause the least damage to the people and their properties”, Yuri added.
Land acquisition
PWD officials pointed out that the bypass would entail the acquisition of land on all the three alignments, a factor which is expected to further delay the bypass from becoming a reality.
While alternate-I of the alignment-I will require the acquisition of land along the entire 11-km bypass, right from Sirlim to Balli, the government would have to also go for the acquisition of land if it opts for either of the remaining two alignments – II & III, which are running along the existing NH, up to Uskini bandh, since no land has been acquired for the stretch between Uskini bandh to the Balli Primary Health Centre.
Executive Engineer, PWD, NH Dattaprasad Kamat informed that the land acquisition proceedings on any of the three alignments have not started to date. Sources pointed out that the government would go for the land acquisition only after taking a final call on the alignment.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s 4-lane proposal
During his last visit to the State earlier this year, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had unveiled plans to develop the Navelim-Cuncolim stretch of the National Highway into a four-lane road. Officials in the know, however, said the PWD is still in the process of preparing the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the four-laning of the Navelim-Cuncolim stretch up to Uskini bandh where the PWD is in possession of the acquired land.
Given that the Centre is going ahead with the four-lane road on the Navelim-Cuncolim stretch, it implies that the government has decided to stick to the initial decision to widen the road along the densely populated Dandeavaddo area, in Chinchinim village. A senior PWD official, however, said that the National Highway will go for the construction of elevated roads and flyovers wherever required along the stretch.
