PONDA: With the main road between Anmod, Goa and Ramnagar in Karnataka remaining closed, sugarcane transportation to processing units in Karnataka from Goa has been hit.
The alternative road, from Anmod to Khanapur, remains closed between 6pm and 6am on consecutive days and sugarcane-laden trucks have to be parked a whole night at Anmod if any truck reaches post 6pm.
Karnataka had taken up the roadway works from Khanapur to Anmod within its jurisdiction.
To speed up work, Dilip Buildcon, the road infrasctructure company, had split it into two phases. The Ramnagar to Khanapur four-lane stretch was scheduled in phase one and the Ramnagar to Goa border two-lane stretch in the next phase.
With the ongoing construction, vehicles proceeding to Karnataka via Anmod have to travel through a forest road from Anmod to Khanapur. But with the road remaining closed between 6pm to 6am trucks reaching Anmod after 6pm have to spend the night there.
“This halt delays transportation by a day. If the trucks reach the factory on time, they can be unloaded quickly and do an extra trip”, said Francis ‘Aytin’ Mascarenhas who has shouldered the responsibility of sending the sugarcane for processing to factories in neighbouring states. He said the road closure has also increased the travel distance by 10km.
He has already despatched 19,932 tonnes of sugarcane toa factory in Khanapur, as well as 14,00 and 880 tonnes to Chandgad taluka of Maharashtra.
A source said that the road work was halted as permission for construction in the forest areas was challenged and a stay order was issued. Work on the Anmod-Mollem stretch has also been incomplete.