Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari. (File Photo) Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari. (File Photo)

With the construction of 4-lane Mumbai-Goa highway, to be completed by 2018, travel time will reduce to six hours, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said in Panaji on Thursday. “We have already started the work on Mumbai-Goa four-lane cement concrete road. Our target is to complete Mumbai-Goa highway by 2018. Once it is completed, it will take only six hours from Goa to Mumbai,” Gadkari told a gathering in presence of Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar.

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The road will help to boost tourism of the coastal state, he said, adding that he has agreed to link the Mumbai-Goa highway to Pollem in South Goa against the earlier plan to connect it up to Patradevi on Goa’s border touching Maharashtra. The minister was addressing a gathering after chairing an event to sign an agreement between Mormugao Port Trust and Vedanta’s Goa Sea Port Private Limited for the re-development of cargo berth number 8 and 9 besides barge berths and inauguration of roof top 200 KV capacity solar power generation plant at MPT.

“When I had taken charge, the road construction was 2 km per day, then it was 22 km per day, and now we are targeting at 42 km per day by next March. The life of the road will be at least 50 years,” Gadkari said. Stating that 5 lakh accidents occur every year in the country, Gadkari asserted that special attention would be given to reduce road mishaps.

“By making four lane concrete road we will save the life of the people on Goa-Mumbai highway. At the same time we are identifying the accidental ‘black spots’ across the country. We have already invested money for improvement of 786 black spots,” he said.

“We have made it a point that 10 per cent of the fund would be reserved to improve the black spots on highways, state roads and municipal roads. States should identity the black spots. We will definitely give money to improve them. It will also save lives,” the minister added.

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