MAPUSA
The State government has taken up road widening works along the main district road (MDR-8) from Mapusa to Calangute expecting the tourist traffic flow to rise especially after the Mopa International Airport has become operational.
The road widening work is being taken up in stages. The road expansion work from Mapusa to the Canca stretch has been taken up by the Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) while the stretch from the Canca circle to Parra is taken up by the PWD (roads).
The PWD has started to knock off the coconut and other fruit-bearing trees which are coming in the way of the road-widening area along the Parra stretch.
“We are trying to utilise the acquired area for road widening wherever possible. At some places land acquisition has been done while in other areas the process is on,” a PWD (Roads) engineer conversant with the work told The Goan.
Similarly, a proposal to widen the road from the border of Canca to Mapusa has been put forward by the PWD and administrative approval has also been obtained but the work has been held up because of the land acquisition process.
On Monday, Calangute MLA Michael Lobo was monitoring the road widening work along the Parra stretch.
Lobo informed that efforts were on to remove bottlenecks and widen the road which will also have footpaths on either side.
He said the MDR-8 will be the main road for tourists arriving from the Mopa international airport to gain entry in Calangute.
“Earlier, when tourists arrived from the Dabolim airport, they used the Chogm road to travel to Calangute. Now, with the start of the Mopa International Airport the load on Chogm road will be reduced and the Mapusa-Calangute road will be the most sought after road,” Lobo said.
He also said that the other internal road from Guirim which connects to Parra will also see a rise in tourist traffic and will als
