NGOs back demand for realignment of highways
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, NOV 21
Various NGOs including the Village Groups of Goa and the Goenchea Xetkarancho Ekvott expressed their support and solidarity to the National Highway Diversion Action Committee in their demand to realign the National Highways 4A and 17 away from the densely populated and eco-sensitive areas in Goa.
VGG pointed out that the present alignment will spell the death knell for the traditional Goan way of life, dividing and fragmenting village communities in addition to destroying rivers, wetlands, paddy fields and forested hills which are so very vital to the provision of basic necessities required for the survival of the common man. “It is also grossly unfair that Goans should have to pay toll for the use of roads that they have been using for generations now after being forced to give up their scarce and precious ancestral land. VGG also pointed out that prices of all day to day commodities will shoot up, causing great hardship to ordinary Goans because of the toll that transporters will be compelled to pay in order to use the proposed National Highways”, stated Edwin Pinto.
Meanwhile, the GXE has expressed shock at the insistence of the Government in pursuing this arbitrary and destructive project in spite of numerous representations pointing out that survival of a sustainable Goa and the construction of these highways are mutually exclusive.
“Goans are reminded that the proposed highways are passing through densely populated villages, which is against the fundamental principles of Hhghway design. If the width of the roads are allowed to be increased beyond 20 meters, our villages shall be permanently bisected and destroyed. GXE states that as exhibited at Verna plateau, 20 meters right of way shall more than suffice for even the Margao-Panaji road for many years. Inter State traffic between Maharashtra and Karnataka can very well use the Golden Quadrangle which runs just to the east of our State”, the GXE said.
In a statement, the GXE reminded the people of Goa that Union Minister for Environment & Forests Shri Jairam Ramesh has rightly warned people in far away Ranchi not to follow Goa, which is being freely cited as an example of a land being irreversibly destroyed in the name of development.
The CM's irresponsible statements in the press connecting the high rates of accident deaths in our State with the NH proposal show the levels to which our representatives are ready to stoop to force their model of development on us.
It is certain that if an independent study of the environmental, social and economic impacts of the proposed road expansion is carried out first, the project shall be dropped on the grounds of the irreversible loss to Goan environment, water and food security, as well as destruction of the villages and the unique Goan society and culture, an invaluable asset to the entire humanity.”, the GXE added.