PANJIM: The Goa Human Rights Commission (GHRC) has found that no human rights were violated in the complaint lodged by 14 senior citizens from Bambolim, who had claimed that light and vehicular traffic were plying through the Palmar Colony at Santa Cruz.
The senior citizens had claimed that ill-planned road widening work of the National Highway and the unnecessary breaking of the major district road (MDR) from Santa Cruz to the Goa Medical College (GMC), Bambolim and illegal `No Entry’ sign installed near car showroom at Bambolim, had been taken up and due to which light and heavy vehicular traffic was plying through their residential areas.
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Former PWD Executive Engineer C Radhakrishnan and other senior citizens of the Palmar Colony, Santa Cruz had submitted that the excavation work carried out was causing unbearable noise and air pollution to the residential colony.
However, Public Works Department (PWD) Principal Chief Engineer submitted that the National Highway work was not ill- planned and denied that the traffic was diverted through the Palmar Colony. The diversion was made due to construction of four-lane national highway work and the road would be restored once the work was completed.
The respondent also denied that the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) had changed the original plan of the highway widening work to save a private building, which was to be demolished as per the original plan.
After perusing the complaint and hearing both the partiers, the three-member Commission comprising chairman Justice U V Bakre and Members Desmond D’Costa and Pramod Kamat found that the complainants failed to make out any human rights violation by the PWD and disposed of the proceedings.
It may be recalled that the senior citizens of Palmar Colony had also complained to Union Minister for Road Transport and Highway Nitin Gadkari, who later asked the PWD to take necessary measures to alleviate the hardships faced by the people due to national highway work at Bambolim.
