Reiterating that the department wants to minimize damages to houses, the Public Works Department has said that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) team will submit the new alignment for the four-laning of NH17 from Patradevi to Polem within eight days.
The NHAI team was in Goa to study the alignment prepared by the department after the PWD Minister Churchill Alemao had requested the Ministry of Road and Surface Transport to re-consider the earlier alignment as that would damage more houses.
“We have shown them the plan of the land which has already been acquired by the department for the four-laning and we are expecting them to submit the new alignment as proposed by us, within eight days,” Assistant Surveyor of Works Nitin Neurekar told Herald.
The earlier alignment by the NHAI required at least 800 houses to be erased across the 139-km stretch, which was also reported by this paper.
“The instructions of the PWD Minister Churchill Alemao and the Chief Minister Digamabar clearly state that no houses should be acquired unnecessarily” Neurekar said. “At least 800 houses will have to be erased according to the NHAI plan but as per our alignment less than 80 will have to be acquired, which are also not major houses,” he said.
He said if the four-laning is carried out on the existing route it will have minimum effect on the structures and the citizens.
Asked to clarify the confusion between four and six laning, Neurekar said “In the first phase we are only thinking of four-laning from Patradevi to Polem and in the phase II we will upgrade to six laning the stretch from Mapusa to Margao.” Giving details of the project, Neurekar said, “There will be several new bridges on Colvale, Mandovi, Zuari, Talpona, Galgibag and Mashem rivers. Wherever major passes are there, that place would have flyovers or underpasses like Porvorim circle, Panjim bus stand etc.”
