Team Herald
MARGAO: Taking a cue from the unnoticed sufferings of the Nuvem farmers, Benaulim villagers have demanded that a study be conducted to assess the sufferings of the local farmers due to the western bypass.
The demand has been made in the backdrop of the recent floods at Tolleabandh in Benaulim and the assurance given by the PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral of getting a hydrologist to conduct a survey of the western bypass area.
It may be recalled that a lengthy battle is being fought by the locals of Benaulim who are opposing the State government’s plan to build the stretch of the western bypass in Benaulim on embankments. The locals as well the Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas have been demanding that the western bypass be built on stilts as they fear that if it is built on embankments, the low-lying areas such as Tolleabandh will flood.
However, locals like activist Royla Fernandes have questioned, “Why the Agriculture Department is not looking into the matter given that it is the farmers that are facing the biggest brunt of the destruction, especially during the recent floods?”
Local farmers from Nuvem supported the demands of Benaulim and cited the example of how their fields alongside the western bypass in Nuvem, which is built on embankments, have been damaged by issues of contamination and water-logging caused by the western bypass construction.
The locals from Benaulim said the Nuvem issue is a case study and that they have made a detailed presentation even to the Governor of how the farmers in Benaulim will be wiped out if the western bypass is built on embankments through their village.
