Process for construction of 4-lane Navelim to Cuncolim highway stretch set in motion

Confusion and traffic bottlenecks at the Belem-Navelim traffic junction are expected to end once the Cuncolim-Navelim highway is expanded into a four-lane road.

MARGAO

The Ministry of Road Surface Transport has finally floated a tender to build the long-delayed four-lane road on the National Highway 66 on the 6.5-km stretch from Navelim to Cuncolim.

Officials of the PWD, National Highways told The Goan that the process for the construction of the  four-lane Cuncolim-Navelim highway has been set in motion with the opening of the tender. “The tender for the project has been floated by the Road Transport Minister. The tender has also been opened. The tender has been floated at an estimated cost of Rs 500-odd crore. Now, we will have to wait and see the bids placed by the prospective contractors”, a PWD, NH official informed.

He said the 6.5-km Cuncolim-Navelim stretch of the NH66 will have three elevated stretches at the Belem-Navelim traffic junction, at Dandeavaddo-Chinchinim and at Panzorconne-Cuncolim.

Sources said the cost of the four-lane project has shot up considerably after the government agreed to build an elevated corridor at Panzorconne-Cuncolim in view of the road going to the Cuncolim Industrial estate.

The tender for the project has come three and half years after Union Minister for  Road Surface Nitin Gadkari had on November 2021 announced the Centre’s nod for the four-laning of the Cuncolim-Navelim road with pavers. In fact, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had in his 2023 budget speech promised to take up the Cuncolim-Navelim four-lane project at the earliest.

Land for the four-laning and expansion of the NH66 between Cuncolim and Navelim was acquired many years ago. In fact, the government had acquired additional land admeasuring 24 hectares over a year ago ahead of the expansion of the highway along the stretch.

Four-laning of the Cuncolim-Navelim stretch of highway has been a long-felt need considering the increase in the volume of vehicular traffic, especially the inter-state traffic on the NH66.

In fact, motorists say that while the travel time from Margao to Panjim has come down drastically, barring the bottlenecks at Verna IDC, it takes longer time to reach Canacona from Margao for want of four-laning of the road.