BURYING
THE HATCHET
According to the formula, tendered before the Bombay High Court at Goa ...
>> Rs 126 crore to be borne by State government and about Rs 40 crore by Central Government
>> Scope of the work and detailed design for it would be finalised by the State Government
>> Once complete, State to request the MoRTH to reimburse the costs of Rs 126 crore
FAST REWIND
>> The total expenditure for this project was to be in the region of Rs 200 crore
>> The PWD in its affidavit stated that the balance stretch of 2.7 kms faced local opposition
>> Certain measures were also proposed, but the locals opposed all the arrangements
>> State revised proposal, increasing the initial estimate to almost Rs 600 cr from Rs 200 cr
>> Secretary of the MoRTH rejects proposal as 75% of the project was complete
>> In a joint meet between state and Centre, the expense sharing model was arrived at
PANAJI: The State and Central Governments which were at loggerheads over the construction of Western bypass in Margao have reached a compromise with the state government agreeing to the proposal of the central government in which the state government will initially bear the bulk of the cost of the construction of the project, and will later seek reimbursement from the centre.
According to this formula, tendered before the Bombay High Court at Goa, out of the total cost of Rs 166 crore, for the particular stretch of Margao Western By-pass, identified as between km 31/900 to 34/650 “ 2.750 km, Rs 126 crore shall be shared by the State Government and about Rs 40 crore shall be paid by the Central Government.
Further the scope of the work and detailed design for it would be finalised by the State Government.
Once complete, the State shall request the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to reimburse the costs of Rs 126 crore, initially to be borne by the State, as the work is being done of a National Highway.
The arrangement would be similar to the arrangement adopted for the new Mandovi bridge, in which the state government went ahead and designed and tendered the bridge only to later approach the central government for funds to the tune of 50% of the cost of the bridge.
In 2015, the Bombay High Court at Goa had initiated a suo moto petition on the basis of a local newspaper article, which referred to the project of Margao Western By-pass, which was stated to be in limbo for about 14 years.
The 11.9 kilometre long 'Western Bypass' was formulated in order to decongest the traffic through the city of Margao and work actually commenced in the year 2015 and in terms of the work order issued, was required to be completed, in all respects, by the year 2017.
The total expenditure of this project was to be in the region of Rs 200 crore. The Public Works Department filed an affidavit stating that the stretch of 8.3 kms, from out of total length of 11.9 kms faced no obstacles, but however the balance stretch of 2.7 kms faced local opposition to the completion of this work, on the ground that this stretch passes through some low lying areas and construction of any bypass on this stretch may lead to water logging and other similar issues.
There were several meetings at the site and ultimately, certain measures were proposed, on the basis of which the construction on this stretch could proceed, by providing 43 box culverts and two vehicular underpass at Nuvem Church cross road and STP cross road. Certain measures, after consideration of the high flood level, were also proposed. However, the locals opposed even this arrangement.
As a result, the State Government submitted a revised proposal to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), which would involve over-bridges, increasing the initial estimate for the project of about Rs 200 crore to almost Rs 600 crore.
However, the Secretary of the MoRH stated candidly that the possibility of MORTH, approving such threefold increase in the estimates at the stage when 75% of the project was complete, was very unlikely.
“The issue was not only about such threefold increase in the estimated costs, but there was absolutely no clarity as to when the project would be completed, even if the MoRTH were to favourably consider such threefold increase,” the court noted.
In view of the rejection of the revised proposal submitted by the State Government to the Ministry of Road Transport Highways, a joint meeting was organised between the state and central government during which the expense sharing model was arrived at.
It is yet unclear if this expense sharing arrangement would be accepted by the locals who opposed the highway on box culverts.
