The ongoing western bypass being constructed by filling up low lying fields at Pequeno Pulvaddo, Benaulim, is nothing but a recipe for disaster. Damming and altering of natural water drainage channels by building earthen embankments will lead to extreme flooding in the area, far worse than what was witnessed last year when the Benaulim-Varca road was submerged under water.
Paddy fields are being ravaged for vanity projects by this government in the name of ‘progress’ and ‘development’ without paying heed to the appeals of the villagers, environmentalists, engineers and hydrology domain experts.
A midway, less destructive solution could have been building the bypass on stilts as is being done at Mungul and Seraulim, but the powers that be in their infantile wisdom have brushed aside this suggestion by the citizenry.
Considering the manageable volume of traffic on this route, experts have opined that the western bypass is not even required. The money could have been put to better use for the welfare of the common man. This government wants to push an ecologically disastrous model of ‘vikas’ down our throats (remember the three linear projects), it is distressing to watch heavy earthmoving machinery dumping waste in the fields at Benaulim, which had been lovingly cultivated for generations.
Another telling example of the sarkar’s lack of foresight and murderous ‘development’ is the work being carried out to make Panjim a ‘Smart City’ (whatever that means); why, even the Mayor and his Deputy have washed their hands off the matter and passed the buck saying that the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) has no control over the contractors executing various packages under the illusionary Smart City Mission.
Panjim is crumbling under the weight of such ill planned, badly executed and shoddy infrastructure work; moreover, the projects have been halted by the government diktat owing to the G20 Summit events scheduled in the capital.
It is certain that a cratered Panjim, which resembles a World War 2 bombed out zone, is going to face the worst ever floods in the coming monsoon. Aam aadmi be damned, the government shall forever be in pursuit of vanity endeavours to cover itself in a cloak of imagined glory.
Words such as ‘vikas’, ‘achhey din’, ‘sabka prayaas’, ‘progress’ are being bandied about by their propaganda machinery to hoodwink the public and distract it from real issues such as price rise, unemployment, inflation etc. We are paying a heavy price for this mirage of progress and shall continue to do so I fear, if the present dispensation remains in place.
