Mining bypass road work to restart soon: Pauskar

Margao: Sanvordem MLA and chairman of the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC), Deepak Pauskar, told STOI that the construction work of the mining bypass road from Guddemol to Capxem is likely to start within the next couple of months.
Stating that land acquisition proceedings were underway for the part of land in possession of the forest department, Pauskar said that the forest land to be acquired for the mining bypass would be swapped with government land in North Goa.

He said that financial approval has already been obtained for the project that is estimated to cost the state exchequer Rs 104 cr.

The mining bypass project, initially planned to be constructed in three phases by the GSIDC, was abandoned midway following the 2012 mining ban.

Phase one of the project entailed construction of an 8.8km four lane road from Uguem to Guddemol, while phase two of the mining corridor extended from Guddemol to Capxem jetties spanning roughly 8.5km. Phase three was planned to consist of the road linking the mines of Cavrem, Maina, Rivona, etc to the main mining corridor. Of the 17-odd kilometres that comprise phase one and phase two, 11km is private land, 4km is forest land and 2km is revenue (government) land. “There are some land acquisition issues concerning the stretch from Uguem to Guddemol, as it consists of private land. There is a need to expedite the process. We are working on it,” Pauskar told STOI.

In the absence of a dedicated mining bypass, haphazard mining transportation through villages in the mining belt leads to perilous situations for pedestrians and road users. Though authorities have placed several restrictions on mining transportation, there are more instances of them being breached rather than observed.