The Centre has granted technical approval for the over Rs 100 crore Comba road over bridge in Margao, clearing a key stage for a project intended to reduce traffic delays at the city’s railway level crossing. Financial approval from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is still pending, according to Goa PWD minister Digambar Kamat.
The four-legged ROB is planned along the Margao ring road at Comba and will connect the city to the Western Bypass. Once built, it will carry vehicles over the railway crossing and divert traffic towards Khareband and the Damodar College complex. Kamat said the project was necessary because the level crossing gate closes frequently, while the existing alternative subway requires vehicles to negotiate a sharp U-turn in limited space.
A PWD survey found that approximately 17,000 vehicles use the Comba level crossing each day. The existing subway also floods during the monsoon, adding to disruption for commuters and residents. The planned ROB is expected to work with the proposed missing link of the Margao ring road to improve movement through the area.
The project had been awaiting approval after Kamat raised the matter with Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari in Delhi in July 2024. It is being pursued under the Union government’s Setu Bandhan scheme. Although a railway no-objection certificate had earlier been seen as a potential obstacle, both South Western Railway and Konkan Railway have since given their approval, the minister said.
The technical approval does not yet mean construction can begin. The 0.9-km ring road flyover connected to the wider plan has remained untendered despite receiving the Centre’s sanction two years ago. The project’s next immediate requirement is financial approval, followed by tendering and other implementation steps.
The Centre has also sanctioned two other road works for Margao. A Rs 22 crore service road will link Vidya Vikas Academy in Comba to the Western Bypass. The package includes improvements and road-safety measures at Khareband junction. Kamat said work on this project would commence shortly.
A further Rs 47.5 crore has been approved for one-time improvement of the Nuvem-Navelim stretch, which is to be denotified as National Highway 66. Before that change, the state has proposed upgrading the bypassed road. The work will include milling Abade Faria Road, or removing its upper bitumen layer, followed by hotmixing. Residents had complained that the raised surface created after earlier hotmixing was allowing rainwater to enter their homes.
Together, the three sanctioned works address different points in Margao’s road network: a grade-separated crossing at Comba, a new connection to the Western Bypass and rehabilitation of an existing highway stretch. Their effectiveness will depend on the remaining approvals, tendering and coordination between the PWD, railways and road authorities. The next formal milestone for the Comba ROB is financial approval from MoRTH.
