Centre approves Rs 1.8k crore for Cuncolim highway expansion

Panaji: The Union highways ministry has approved the Rs 1,880 crore detailed project report (DPR) submitted by Goa govt for four-laning of the highway from Cuncolim to Bendoredem. The project will include bypasses at Cuncolim and Balli, where locals had been expressing apprehensions about losing their houses to the highway expansion.

The project will also include 5.78km of six-lane elevated corridor and a major six-lane railway overbridge.

The expansion of the NH-66 forms an integral part of the Mumbai-to-Kanyakumari four-lane corridor.

Earlier, the ministry has already sanctioned expansion of the NH-66 from Margao bypass to Cuncolim and from Bendordem to Canacona bypass.

The section in between these two projects from Cuncolim to Bendordem was the last remaining part of NH-66 to receive funding.

Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Monday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union highways minister Nitin Gadkari and said that “this approval will decongest our towns, ease daily commutes, and accelerate South Goa’s growth”.

Work of four-laning of the Bendordem to Canacona bypass of the national highway, covering 22km, is already set to begin, with Rs 952 crore sanctioned for the project by the Union highways ministry. The work has already been awarded to the contractor in Jan this year.

The Cuncolim bypass has been planned after traffic flow on the NH-66 has increased over the past few years and vehicles speed through village roads in Cuncolim. The road near Uskinibandh has turned accident-prone in recent months with several fatal accidents on the stretch from Uskinibandh to Panzorconi.

The bypass has been proposed from Uskinibandh to Bendordem.

From Cuncolim to Canacona is a crucial highway artery connecting the towns of Margao, Cuncolim, and Canacona. It will traverse the villages of Bendordem, Cordem, Barcem and Canacona. This stretch is vital to facilitate the inter-state traffic with Karnataka and Maharashtra, which will also improve intra-state connectivity to Panaji and Margao.