Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari has said that “a microscopic minority group is proving to be an obstacle in the development of Goa.”
‘Lack of interest’
He was addressing the annual general meeting of the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) here on Saturday. Mr. Gadkari said, “We are interested in expanding the ports but people in Goa are not interested, so I decided to go to Karnataka and Maharashtra. If you want, we will develop them. If you are not okay, we won’t hesitate to go to other States.” Mr. Gadkari said, “We have sanctioned ₹600 crore for four-laning roads from National Highway 17 to Mopa airport. I have asked my officials whether it is possible to use a river like Zuari or any other river to develop waterways up to the airport. We are working on it and it is possible. But your Captain of Ports has not been giving permission for one-and-a-half years.
“We have sanctioned ₹40 crore to carry out dredging work in Zuari and Mandovi rivers, but there is apprehension among a few groups that we are going to take the rivers to Delhi.”
Mr. Gadkari said transportation in the State should run on fuels of the future such as electricity, ethanol, bio-diesel, methanol and bio-CNG. He said even ships can be run on these fuels.
