Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said the work on the Mumbai-Goa highway will be completed by December this year. The highway will give a huge boost to development in Maharashtra's Konkan region."The Mumbai-Goa highway touches 66 tourism spots in Maharashtra's Konkan. It will give development a high boost. It will also ensure quick transportation of fruits and other produce the region is famous for," PTI quoted Gadkari as saying.
The union minister blamed the contractors who were given two stretches for construction in 2011 for the delay. The highway is being built and widened in 11 phases. He assured that the matter has now been resolved. Speaking at the 'bhoomi pujan' ceremony in Panvel of the concretisation of the Palaspe-Indupur national highway stretch and some other routes, the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways said several works in the state's Konkan region were held up due to issues like land acquisition, permissions, contractor problems.An announcement of the construction of the Rs 13,000 crore Morbe-Karanjade road was also made at the event. The road will go through Jawaharlal Nehru Port and reduce the time needed to cover the distance between Mumbai and Delhi to 12 hours. Work on the Rs 1,200 crore Kalamboli junction and Rs 1,200 crore rpt Rs 1,200 crore Pagode junction too will begin soon, he was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.Gadkari also said his ministry was in the process of introducing satellite-based fare collection on highways instead of having toll nakas that obstruct free flow of traffic.