PORVORIM: Minister for Public Works Department (PWD) Nilesh Cabral affirmed on Tuesday that the expansion of the National Highway would not entail the demolition of any temples and would minimally impact residential areas in Bhoma and Corlim villages.
Cabral addressed the apprehensions through a calling attention motion initiated by opposition MLAs, including St Andre MLA Viresh Borkar. Cabral clarified, “The proposed highway in Bhoma and Corlim village is on stilts whereby all highway traffic will ply on the elevated portion while the stretch underneath will act as a service road causing least disturbance to the existing business setups beyond the acquisition line.”
Cabral specified that only four residential houses in each village would be demolished to facilitate the highway construction, with rehabilitation plots provided to the affected residents. Additionally, temporary kiosks facing removal would also be relocated to ensure the continuity of the vendors’ livelihoods.
Cabral stated, “No temple shall be demolished and hence the question of disturbing the tradition or culture does not arise.”
Borkar had pointed to newspaper notices that suggested a larger number of affected houses, a claim which Cabral denied. Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai urged the Minister to explore alternatives, suggesting the construction of a bypass road to preserve the integrity of village residential areas. Cabral replied that engineering studies had concluded a bypass road to be infeasible for that particular stretch.
