Villagers want presentation on HN-17 widening
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, JULY 3
The Village Groups of Goa have requested the government to hold a presentation indicating the exact and precise alignment in each affected village, detailing the houses, properties and structures that will be affected by the proposed expansion of the NH-17.
The village groups made the request since no plans are available in the affected villages and the plan available in the PWD office in Fatorda is too minute that the observation and comprehension of which is difficult for ordinary citizens.
The Groups suggested that this presentation could perhaps be organised at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, so that all the affected people could assemble and get their queries addressed, in the public interest.
The NGOs said the government will surely realise that much of the land acquisition for the proposed expansion of NH17, is passing through densely populated areas, resulting in loss of homes of ordinary citizens and also loss of cultivable land which is the means of self employment and livelihood for the “aam aadmi” of Goa.
The village groups said the government needs to convince the people that the benefits of this highway expansion are commensurate with the terrible and devastating loss and upheaval in the lives of the affected people.
“The Government also needs to clarify the process of toll collection and operation of this proposed highway and the financial repercussions on the pockets of the daily commuters not only in terms of the toll, but also through the detours they will have to make as a result,” stated John Philip Pereira.
He said the government also needs to clarify immediately the compensation package to the affected people, since it has been observed that in recent land acquisitions, the people were paid a ridiculously paltry sum of Rs 6, Rs 8 and Rs 12 per square metre.
Saying that they are not against the concept of development for public purpose, Pereira, however, said the people need to understand why this same public purpose could not be served if the highway is routed through the relatively uninhabited hinterland without causing undue distress to the people and disturbance to the environment.
