TNN

Panaji, Aug 7: The High Court of Bombay at Goa has sought details from the government about the time frame within which they would handover the remaining over 1 km portion of the land for the construction of NH 17-B at Vasco.

During the hearing, advocate general of the state Subodh Kantak informed the court that land for the construction of 4.02 km of the highway is already handed over to National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). The balance of 1.18 km would be handed over by September 2009, he said.

The total length of the highway is 18.2 km and 13 km of the stretch is already completed.

The advocate for NHAI, Mahesh Sonak, pointed out that the NHAI intends to float a single tender for the remaining 5.2 km stretch.

The process of inviting tenders for the project is delayed as the government has not fixed time frame to hand over the remaining portion, he added.

Therefore, the court asked the AG to finally clarify regarding the time-frame for handing over the land. The matter is posted for next hearing on August 14. The court is hearing a petition filed by Mormugao Port Users’ Association, who had approached the court for the completion of the remaining portion of 5.2 km of highway in 2006.

The project had hit a road block after construction of 13 km as remaining portion of the land was encroached upon. Following the court’s directives, the government has taken steps to remove encroachments. This has paved the way for the completion of the highway that could reduce the pollution and traffic snarls in the city.