AGASSAIM: Worried Agassaim villagers have demanded more information on the number of house to be demolished in the village for the construction of the new Zuari bridge. According to villagers, nearly 15 houses from the village have been marked for demolition but there is no clarity on this.
Agassaim Sarpanch James Afonso on Tuesday said, “The new bridge will pass through Agassaim. Till now the Panchayat has not been informed anything. There was an advertisement on a local daily, where the survey numbers of houses were mentioned, following which there was a panic in the village.”
He said that according to the advertisement, around 15 houses and two chapels will be demolished but there has been no communication from the government to the Panchayat regarding the project.
According to the Sarpanch the villagers are not opposing the project but only want to know how they will be compensated by the government. “People are not opposing the project. They just want to know if their houses are being demolished and also what is the compensation the government is willing to give,” Afonso said.
“The government needs to provide a good alternative to the people. They have been living there for more than 20 years. The government should build houses and give to the people. Also, the government needs to relocate them where they can earn their daily bread,” he said and added that the government had conducted soil testing at four places in Agassaim.
“We want land for land and house for house. The government should take care of the people. The government should also provide at least one job per house, as the people who will be rehabilitated will have no source of income,” said Kishore Verlekar, a resident of the village.
