R Fernandes
Highways are needed to shorten transit time of goods/people. These may need widening in future to cater to increased traffic. Hence, these must be NEW roads and not widening of the narrow existing roads already having houses close to the same.
The present BJP Govt in its haste to ‘meet’ its Central BJP targets is resorting to short cuts-widening of existing roads which benefits only the transit of goods. Such acts will:
Destroy existing houses now and more in future resulting in destruction of the whole village, create noise pollution causing psychological and social problems affecting the quality of life the people. Force people to move out of their villages. All roads in Goa have already been widened to cater to 4-wheelers and the road edges are now touching the houses. Road and highway traffic noise is one of the worst noise pollution problems worldwide. Any noise above 80db causes:
Hearing Problems: Exposure to noise can damage one of the most vital organs of the body, the ear.
Cardiovascular Issues: A noisy environment can be a source of heart-related problems.
Sleep Disturbances: This is one of the noise pollution effects that can deter your overall well-being.
Interference in Verbal Communication: A noisy environment that produces more than 50-60 decibels simply does not allow 2 people to communicate properly.
Mental Health Problems: Exposure to loud sound can lead to elevated stress levels as well as stimulate violent behavior.
All the above should have come from the mouth of the TCP itself. However, what we see from the TCP is: Restaurants right on the highway with no parking, two-wheeler agencies right on the highway AND on the cross road-again without parking area/access.
Highways without taking even the basic design criteria to mitigate: truck noise, highway noise, pavement noise. The Chief Town Planner has never put these views before the Government. People need to take the recourse to the Courts and demand that the TCP be checked for its competency. All they do is try to push the same by manipulating the RP interpretation.
