PANAJI

Union minister Nitin Gadkari said that certain issues, including hurdles being faced in land acquisition, were affecting the schedule of road projects. 
“There are some problems in maintaining the time schedule. We need the cooperation of the state government to tackle them. Land acquisition for these projects is a big task,” he said.

“The ministry expects cooperation from all stakeholders to complete the land acquisition in time. Timely completion of any project is important for the cost-effectiveness,” the minister said.

Gadkari said that in some places, there are also delays due to the environment clearances.

“Some of the problems in completing the projects are because of the state governments and some because of central government’s different departments. We are trying to make it as early as possible,” he said.

Talking about the projects in Goa, Gadkari said a retired official has been made in-charge of land acquisition.

“We have to strengthen his hands. I suggest that we take some retired people, whose salaries would be taken care of by the NHAI, to speed up the land acquisition process,” he said.