Mumbai: Public Works Department (PWD) minister Chandrakant Patil was tired replying to queries related to the Mumbai-Goa highway expansion project. He said that he was fed-up dealing with issues related to land acquisition for the project, which he described as one of the most complicated projects in the state.
The cases along the Panvel to Indapur stretch were particularly tiring, he said. The minister also assured that he would hold a special meeting with local leaders and officers in Mumbai coming Monday to find the way out. The Mumbai-Goa highway expansion project has been underway for the past few years. The work has been expedited over the past few months however there are still stretches where land acquisition cases are pending. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) member Sunil Tatkare raised the issue with a calling attention motion in the House.
Mr Tatkare taunted, “The minister keeps assuring a new deadline every time. I am raising the issue in almost every session. But there are still few places where let alone the work order, even the land acquisition is still to be started. Therefore, the state government should come up with an assurance that it can keep.”
Replying to Mr Tatkare, Mr Patil accepted that there were certain issues pending which the government was yet to resolve. “There are two stretches. Work on the Indapur in Raigad to Jharap in Sindhudurg stretch has already been expedited and will be completed within the deadline. But I must say that the stretch from Panvel to Indapur in Raigad district is testing the government’s patience. It is one of the most complicated cases,” he said.
