New govt revitalizes Goa highway project

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  Four-Laning Put On NHAI Priority List A week is not yet up since Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet assumed office and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has already put on its immediate agenda for land acquisition and widening work four stretches of the accident-prone MumbaiGoa highway where a fourlaning project has faced starting trouble. These four stretches together make up 371 km from Indapur to Zara. "We got a call from NHAI saying that acquisition process was being taken to the official and legal paperwork stage to release funds for compensation and construction work," an official linked with the project said. The man in the Cabinet with the transport & highways portfolio is Nitin Gadkari, the brains behind the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. Officials said road work on the Goa highway would begin after a year and take at least three years to complete. National Highway 17, as it is officially called, is largely a two-lane affair without dividers and has seen the most accidents and deaths in the state in recent years. An official with the PWD said nods would be required from railways, forest and electricity departments. Once the highway is widened, the one-way toll might be Rs 350 to 400 for a car. Other pending issues are restriction on expansion along the Karnala bird sanctuary, Indapur villagers' flyover demand, and nonperforming contractors.

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Illegal Campa Cola residents dig in their heels



Illegal residents of Worli's Campa Cola compound are headed on a collision course with the civic authorities as they have declined to vacate their flats once the Supreme Court deadline ends on May 31.

Nandini Mehta, a member of the affected residents' core committee, said, "We cannot hand over the keys of our homes simply because the families have nowhere to go. Even if one family becomes homeless, we will all stay put."

Asked if that would put them in direct confrontation with the BMC, she said, "How much worse can it get?
Our backs are to the wall."

The BMC has issued notices to illegal flat owners asking them to hand over the keys of their flats to the BMC between May 29 and June 2.

The BMC has said that if the residents do not give possession of their flats, it will approach the Supreme Court. The residents had given an undertaking to the top court that they will vacate the flats by May 31, the deadline set by the court.

Civic officials have said they will not try to forcefully evict the residents, unlike last time, when critics had called the approach inhuman.

"We have decided to approach the top court and not get into an ugly fight this time. We will go to court straight if the illegal residents do not vacate their flats and let the SC decide what is to be done," said a senior civic official.

Parshva Shah, who lives in Orchid Apartments, says the mood in the compound is one of uncertainty .
The 23-year-old law student said on Wednesday , "My flat is among the unaffected ones and so does not face the threat of demolition. But of course, we are solidly behind our neighbours who have been our friends for 20 years. My mother, who suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure, is anxious since the deadline is so near.
We have no idea how the civic author ities plan to keep the elevators functioning till the legal fifth floor only, and whether they will disconnect our water supply and electricity con nection, and if our homes will be damaged by the demolition of the floors above."

Shah said the residents hope for "something positive, some manner of divine intervention", like the previous two occasions when the illegal floors were to be demolished.

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