TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: Allaying fears of the villagers of Rachol and Raia over the Rachol-Shiroda bridge, Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar has assured that the government would not bulldoze with the bridge construction.
In fact, he said the government would go ahead with the bridge only after taking the people of Rachol and Raia into confidence. “We have no plans to bulldoze with the bridge work. Though the bridge has been a long standing demand of the villagers of Shiroda, the government would not bulldoze with the project,” he told Herald.
The Chief Minister, who came under fire from many quarters in Raia and Rachol over his purported announcement at Shiroda that the government is committed to build the bridge, said he had only stated that the government would take the people of Rachol into confidence before constructing the bridge.
“A wrong impression is being created that the government would go all out to construct the bridge. What I had said was that the government would take those opposing the bridge into confidence before going ahead with the project,” he said.
The Sarpanchas of Rachol and Raia, Joseph Vaz and Xavier Fernandes respectively, besides Fr Victor Ferrao of the Rachol Seminary and Curtorim MLA Reginaldo Lourenco had opposed the proposed Shiroda-Rachol bridge saying it would result in the destruction of the village heritage and the environment.
