PANAJI
Amidst stiff opposition from the villagers over land acquisition, the Union Ministry for Road Transport and Highways ( MoRTH) has approved Rs 557 crore for the 4-laning of the national highway stretch from Ponda to Bhoma.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday announced that the Ministry has approved Rs 557 crore for the 4-laning of the 9.6 km stretch from Ponda to Bhoma on NH-748, to be executed on EPC mode.
"The current stretch suffers from significant congestion and frequent accidents. The 4-laning will ease traffic, decongest the area, and address four accident blackspots," he said.
Gadkari said that the section represents the missing four-lane link between the adjacent four-lane segments of Khandepar to Ponda and the Ribandar bypass.
"It serves as a critical connection between the major towns of Panaji and Ponda," Gadkari said while adding that the project will facilitate inter-state traffic from Karnataka and enhance connectivity to Dabolim Airport and Mormugao Port via NH-566 and NH-66.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant thanked the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Gadkari for the sanction. "This project will significantly improve connectivity between Panaji and Ponda, and further extend to Belagavi," he said.
The residents of Bhoma have been vehemently opposing road widening in the village as about 64 houses and about 1,035 square metres of land belonging to three temples in the village would be acquired for the project.
The Ministry had last year issued notification for acquisition of 4.5335 hectares (45,335 sq mts) of land at Bhoma.
