PANAJI: Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said the delay in widening the Mumbai-Goa highway was “shameful” and vowed strict action against contractors and officials responsible for delays and shoddy execution of infrastructure projects.Gadkari said he would not attend the inauguration of the widened Mumbai-Goa highway, saying he felt “ashamed” that the project had been delayed for so long.“I had announced (earlier) that I would not come for the inauguration of the (widened) Mumbai-Goa highway because I felt ashamed that it had been delayed so much,” he said.The minister said he would instead travel from Mumbai to Goa by road in October to personally inspect the highway and assess whether the journey had been made convenient for travellers.“I would land at the Mumbai airport in October, and travel by road to Goa to personally inspect the highway and assess whether the journey has been made convenient for travellers,” Gadkari said.He said a meeting on the issue was held with officials on Tuesday.Gadkari also vowed to take strict action against contractors and officials responsible for delays and poor execution of infrastructure projects.“Now I want to set a record of blacklisting the maximum number of contractors and taking action against them, as well as suspending officials, within a year. I am not going to stop doing this now,” he said.The widening of the Mumbai-Goa highway, which passes through Maharashtra’s coastal Konkan region, has faced repeated delays. According to Gadkari, the highway is now nearly 93-94% complete.Gadkari was speaking after inaugurating a six-lane elevated road corridor at Porvorim near Panaji in the presence of Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant, union minister Shripad Naik, state ministers and other officials.The Rs 641-crore, 5.15-km elevated corridor on NH-66 is expected to reduce travel time by around 30-40 minutes and ease traffic at three major junctions.Talking about the new corridor, Gadkari said the original two-lane road now had a 10-lane capacity, with four lanes below and six lanes above.The corridor strengthens connectivity between Panaji, Porvorim, Mapusa and North Goa, besides improving access towards Mopa International Airport and neighbouring Maharashtra.Gadkari urged the Goa government to develop roadside amenities reflecting the state’s architecture, food and handicraft traditions along the Mumbai-Goa highway.He said such facilities should showcase Goan cuisine, handloom and handicraft products and provide tourists with a distinctive experience while travelling through the state.Gadkari also called for petrol and diesel pumps along the route to be supplemented with facilities for biofuels, electric vehicles and other alternative fuels.The minister further called for scientific landscaping along the highway instead of arbitrary tree plantation by contractors. He urged the state government to make the entire highway a “green highway” and suggested developing it on the lines of an “oxygen park”.Gadkari also stressed the need to make Goa free from water, air and noise pollution and urged authorities to ensure that waste does not enter the sea.He called for a comprehensive traffic study and reforms in the state, including consolidation of markets, shifting warehouses outside cities, improving bus depots and synchronising traffic to ease congestion.The minister also advocated greater use of alternative fuels and electric, hydrogen and flex-fuel technologies, saying they would help reduce pollution.