MARGAO: Voicing their objections to the ongoing road widening work along National Highway-66, the villagers of Nuvem, on Sunday, were unanimous in their demand to de-notify highway, from Fr Agnel Ashram to Carmel College, which they claimed will significantly save the village and educational institutions.
A significant number of villagers participated in the gram sabha, as many of them asserted that the road widening project is unnecessary and expressed concerns that it will adversely affect the residents, educational institutions and small businesses in the area.
Sarpanch Freda D’Sa told mediapersons that following the resolution, the panchayat body plans to meet the Chief Minister to discuss the matter. They plan to formally request the de-notification of NH-66 from Fr Agnelo to Carmel College, emphasizing the concerns raised by villagers about the potential negative impacts on the residents, educational institutions, and small businesses.
“We have observed that the contractor has arrived at the site and commenced cleaning for the road widening project. The proposed road widening will undoubtedly impact numerous residents,” Freda said
Jose Roque Andrade, a gram sabha member, said that road widening along NH-66 in the acquired land on both sides is unnecessary and pointed out that there are already two parallel roads to the north and south of the highway.
The resolution states that no new road will be constructed on the acquired land on both sides of the National Highway from Gounlloy to Povocao in Nuvem. The resolution is based on the presence of two existing parallel roads: one being NH-17 (now NH-66) with two lanes and a proposed expansion to four lanes, the land acquired on both sides around 1985, and the other being the Western Bypass road.
Few other issues related to the betterment of the village were also discussed which included gambling and dhirio, besides power cables resulting in power failure.
