the aggrieved Consua villagers along with RDA Minister and Cortalim MLA Alina Saldanha on Monday visited the excavation site and forced the party to stop work immediately.
According to the villagers, they were having sleepless nights as the contractor who was given the job to construct Margao bypass road have been excavating rubbles and boulders from Consua hill round-the-clock.
Villagers alleged that the said contractor has been using gelatin sticks at the site and they further feared that the underground tunnel which is passing underneath Consua Hill and is located barely few metres distance from the excavation site is facing high risk. They, therefore, demanded that the authorities to revoke permission given to the contractor for the said excavation work, failing which they even threatened to launch mass protest in future.
“Since last several months, we have been knocking on the doors of the administration however our pleas have failed to evoke any response. Having no option left, we have decided to stop work and if the contractor tries to restart, entire Consua village would come out to take part in the mass protest against the said work which could lead to disaster in the village” said Joel Fernandes, a villager from Consua.
“It is surprising that the contractor has been using gelatin sticks to remove the boulders besides using heavy machines, still the officials of state administration are quiet. Such gelatin blasts make heavy noise in the village and we are unable to sleep. Also what is more important is the fact that the contractor has excavated the hill to the depth of 15 metres which in turn has been posing high risk to the underground railway tunnel passing underneath the said Consua hill and thus such activity should be stopped immediately” said Augustine Fernandes.
MLA Alina Saldanha said, “I am surprised that despite recent stop work order issued by the South Goa Collector, the contractor failed to stop the work at the site. Today, I came to check the intensity of excavation and found that the site resembles like a mine. As villagers have raised their objections to the said excavation work, I will again ask the officials and especially the TCP officials to issue necessary directions.”
to the contractor. In no case, works against the wishes of the people would be allowed to be undertaken.
Meanwhile, a staff appointed by the PWD appointed contractor who was present at the site claimed that they have obtained all required permissions from concerned departments and there is nothing illegal going on at Consua. He said that they are just taking rubbles to the bypass road site to construct Margao bypass road.
Photo By: Prasad Naik
