Mumbai: Union minister Nitin Gadkari said bhumi pujan for the four-laning of the Mumbai-Goa Highway will be carried out next month. The Rs 6,000-crore project will help reduce accidents. He said work of constructing bridges on the Goa-Mumbai concrete road is already in progress. Gadkari also commissioned Mumbai Port Trust’s second liquid chemical berth at Pir Pau, at Mahul near Chembur. He said the cargo handling capacity will increase by 2.5 million tonnes after the commissioning of this chemical berth. The berth is designed to handle 55,000 DWT vessels carrying liquid bulk chemicals and POL products, which can be upgraded to 65.000 DWT in future. The total project cost is Rs 127 crore. The safety standards provided at this facility conform to the Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD) norms. Gadkari said the government has decided to build three more major ports at Wadhwan near Dahanu in Maharashtra, Colachel Port near Kanyakumari and the Sagar Island Port in West Bengal. The Wadhwan Port will built as a joint venture port between JNPT and Maharashtra Maritime Board, and is intended to decongest the over-burdened JNPT Port at Nhava Sheva.

Facebook Twitter Linkedin EMail