FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 2024
Team Herald
PANJIM: Senior citizens residing at Bambolim are facing hardships due to ongoing work of widening of National Highway 66 even as Union Minister for Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had asked the PWD to resolve their issues.
What has annoyed the senior citizens is the deviation of the highway to save a structure belonging to a private party at Bambolim. The contractor completed the work at a fast pace before Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) granting its approval.
The contractor was supposed to construct the highway about nine to 10 metres below the ground level avoiding the steep slope and the contractor excavated upto the private structure. Though the exaction was required to be 45-metre wide only, it was carried out nearly 100 metres wide by resorting to massive hill cutting. But in a bid to save the private structure from being demolished the excavation work was abandoned near the structure and no land acquisition was also completed.
The residents of Palmar Colony have complained that due to reasons best know to PWD, the original plan of taking highway below the slope level was changed and instead proposed to build it along the existing road expanding its width and encroaching on their existing road.
The incomplete service road and reduction of width of the highway is causing inconvenience to the residents. Most of the vehicles are also now using the private road of the Palmar Colony residents.
The changed plan work was started in January this year, a month before request for change of approval was forwarded to the Union Ministry of Road Transport. But the MoRTH chief engineer wrote stating that the PWD proposal for construction of Vehicle Under Pass (VUP) instead of Vehicle Over Pass (VOP) at Bambolim will be a negative change of scope due to land acquisition issue.
It was also principally agreed subject to the condition that in case any future demand for VUP or LUVP at Bambolim arises then it has to be borne by the State PWD. But the PWD authorities with the consultant engineer and the contractor overlooked the MoRTH conditions nor they obtained approval from the Goa government and completed the work as per the change proposed only to protect the private structure.
Thus the construction of highway above the ground through unfavourable slopes and turns is likely to cause mishaps and inconvenience to the people of Santa Cruz, Bambolim, Merces and surrounding areas proceeding to the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Bambolim, Cujira Educational Complex and nearby areas as they have to suddenly come to the highway due to incomplete service road to reach their destinations.
On September 17, Gadkari had asked to take necessary measures to ensure that senior citizens do not face hardships due to highway widening at Bambolim. But till authorities have not taken any measures to alleviate the hardships faced by the people.
