Times News NetworkMargao: The long-awaited nod for the road over bridge (ROB) at Comba, estimated to cost over Rs 100 crore, has received technical approval from Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and is awaiting financial approval. The project is meant to ease Margao’s chronic traffic bottleneck at the railway level crossing.Addressing reporters, PWD minister Digambar Kamat said the ROB will be built along the Margao ring road at Comba to connect Margao city to Western Bypass.“The level crossing gate is closed very frequently. The geometry of the alternative subway is such that vehicles have to take a very sharp U-turn in the limited space to exit,” Kamat said.As TOI had previously reported, the four-legged ROB under the Union govt’s Setu Bandhan scheme had been awaiting approval since Kamat lobbied Union minister Nitin Gadkari in Delhi in July 2024.The ROB will carry traffic from Margao over the railway crossing and divert it towards Khareband and the Damodar College complex. A PWD survey had found that roughly 17,000 vehicles cross the Comba level crossing every day, and the existing subway floods in the monsoon. The 0.9-km ring road flyover itself has remained untendered. Along with completion of the ring road’s proposed missing link, the Comba flyover is expected to ease congestion in the area. However, the 0.9-km ring road flyover itself has remained untendered despite the project having got the Centre’s sanction two years ago. While an NOC from the Railways was supposed to be the sticking point, both South Western Railway and Konkan Railway have since given their nod for the project. Kamat said the Centre has also sanctioned two other works, taking the total to three major projects for Margao.Rs 22 crore has been sanctioned for a service road linking Vidya Vikas Academy, Comba, to Western Bypass, along with improvement of Khareband junction with road safety measures. “Work will commence shortly,” Kamat said.Rs 47.5 crore has been sanctioned as a “one-time improvement” of the Nuvem-Navelim stretch, which will be denotified as NH66. “Before that happens, we have proposed improvement of this bypassed stretch,” Kamat said. The work includes milling of Abade Faria Road, which involves grinding off the top layer of bitumen. Residents had complained that the raised road surface after hotmixing was letting rainwater into their houses. “All the roads will also be hotmixed,” he said.INBOXMedical college at ESI hospital; KTC shuttles on the roadMARGAO: The Centre has sanctioned a new medical college with 50 seats, which will operate from the NUSI hospital at Chinchinim, PWD minister Digambar Kamat said on Wednesday.Admissions will begin from the 2027-28 academic year, in July 2027. “Fifty per cent of the seats will be reserved for Goan students,” Kamat said.Kamat also said that Kadamba Transport Corporation (KTC) intra-city shuttle buses have been operational since Tuesday. The buses will ply along all major landmarks of the city, including the district hospital, the proposed Ayush hospital at Moti Dongor, and the railway station.
