Against the backdrop of objections to the route and work on the Western bypass that will pass through several villages in Salcete such as Verna, Nuvem, Seraulim, Benaulim and Fatorda constituencies, concerns have been raised about the potential impact the bypass will have since low lying areas have been filled. At Benaulim for instance, at the gram sabha discussion and similarly at a meeting held in Seraulim, the locals had pointed out that no environment impact assessment had been done for the project.
On Wednesday, the PWD Minister, Sudin Dhavalikar on the request of Fatorda MLA, Vijai Sardesai visited the Western Bypass stretch at the Mungul section of the proposed road.
“The work will be done after a proper study and the apprehensions of the people will be considered before completing the work. In this monsoon season, we will see the demographics of the land and the flooding levels and accordingly study the same. A call will be taken to move ahead with a proper remedy,” Dhavalikar said.
“When there will be rains we will study the problems and will refer to the requirements, the CPWD Manuals and the NHAI manuals and also the engineering plans and will address the people’s issues,” he added.
“The demand of 24 lakh cubic meters for filling land for the Western Bypass has raised apprehensions in the minds of people as they complained that there will be definite flooding of these areas. We have called the minister to virtually see the area as the installation of pipes under this road is an old concept and it needs more than that to solve the flooding problem,” Vijai told Herald.
