Team Herald
SANGUEM: Pending land acquisition cases have delayed the construction work of the much awaited Dando Bridge in Sanguem.
Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) Chairman and Sanvordem MLA, Deepak Pauskar informed that a couple of land acquisition cases pending before the District Court in Margao have delayed the process to lay the foundation stone for the bridge.
Speaking at a function he said “The quicker the disposal of the pending land acquisition cases, the earlier the dream of the people of Sanguem to see a new bridge will come true”.
Pauskar urged the former Sanguem MLA Subhash Phaldesai, who has been following up the progress of the project at regular interval, to get the pending land acquisition cases settled at the earliest to get the project going.
He informed that GSIDC is processing the matter on a speedy note in getting the pending land acquisition matters disposed off at the earliest.
While most of the land acquisition cases pertaining to the project are settled, a couple of them await disposal before the District Court in Margao with the main contention being filed by Fernandes family whose residential houses and a family business of a bar and restaurant is at stake.
With no alternate solution provided by the land acquisition officer for the Fernandes family, except for monetary compensation, the Fernandes brothers’ duo of Feleciano and Menino have approached the courts. They are demanding their rehabilitation in all respect within the town area alongwith a plot of agricultural land for their survival.
Fernandes brothers claimed that they are the biggest losers of the land due to the construction of the parallel bridge and are also losing their ancestral houses which they have been residing in since their birth.
In a representation to the PWD, Feleciano Fernandes has sought from the government the total rehabilitation of his family members in addition to providing land for agricultural purpose for his family members. He claimed that the compensation provided by the Government is not sufficient enough for reimbursement of loss caused to them due to the acquisition process.
“We are losing a sizeable income in addition to our residential houses. The compensation provided by the Government is not sufficient to purchase fresh plots of land in the town area and construct new houses. We are also losing a running business of bar and a restaurant”, claimed Fernandes.
He further said “The government should provide us a fair package in terms of our total rehabilitation as is otherwise done in other land acquisition cases”.
