The State government on Tuesday decided to appoint a special land acquisition officer (SLO) at Karwar to expedite the process of land acquisition for the four-laning of Goa-Karnataka border to Kundapura stretch on National Highway-66.

A decision to this effect was taken at a review meeting of the project held jointly by Public Works Minister H C Mahadevappa, Forest Minister Ramanath Rai and Uttara-Kannada district in-charge minister R V Deshpande, in Bengaluru.

It was felt that land acquisition process for the project was making slow progress and appointment of a SLO at Karwar would expedite the process. At present, two SLOs are stationed at Udupi and Kundapur.

It was also decided to create a by-pass at Karwar on four-laning of the 187-km stretch so as not to inconvenience the residents of the town, official sources said.