Margao: Art and culture minister Ramesh Tawadkar — who represents the Canacona constituency — said on Sunday evening that once the ongoing four-laning of the NH 66 is completed along the entire stretch from Margao to Canacona, it will reduce travel time between the two places by 20-30 minutes and help usher development into the Canacona region.“Infrastructure in health, education and other sectors will improve,” Tawadkar, said at the event, ‘Sketches’, organised by Lokvishwas Prathishthan in association with Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, to raise funds for the special school’s educational intitatives in Canacona. Lokvishwas Prathishthan’s school is the only school for special children in Canacona.The four-laning of a 22.1km stretch of the highway has been taken up under central funding of Rs 1,376 crore, encompassing the segment from Bendordem to the Canacona bypass, and from the bypass to the Karnataka border at Polem.Tawadkar said that when he took up the initiative of constructing houses for the underprivileged under his Shram Dham programme, many people had criticised him.“They said this initiative would not work, but now, over 70 houses have been constructed or are under construction. The aim behind Shram Dham was not only to protect humanity but also to bring about reconnection between neighbours,” said Tawadkar.Sunday’s event focused on the sale of works by artist Yogesh Prabhugaonkar to raise funds for Lokvishwas Prathishthan’s school in Canacona.Chairman of Lokvishwas Prathishthan, Anup Priolkar, said the institution’s branch was established in Canacona in 2009. He said that the school was shifted Mokhard, Canacona to a rented hall provided by the Komarpant Samaj in Devbag. He said now a generous donation of 1,000sqm by the Prabhu family from Canacona will pave the way for the construction of a dedicated school building in the near future.
