TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: Nuvem villagers and social activists on Wednesday reminded South Goa District Collector that the Nuvem bypass need to be built in a scientific manner, reminding him that cultivable land cannot be acquired for any other purpose except for cultivation.
The activists also demanded immediate action over the transportation of mud without covering the vehicles, rendering the roads slippery, resulting in accidents.
A delegation of the Nuvem villagers along with representatives of NGO from Salcete called on the District Collector this morning and conveyed their strong reservations over the use of industrial slag for the bypass construction. They raised their suspicions over the slag dumping in the fields on grounds that the Goa State Pollution Control Board is yet to collect samples of soil and water, besides checking the air ambience. “Vegetation where the slag was dumped for road construction stands scorched. The standing crop is badly affected and buried alive by the land filling activity. Farmers apprehensive over the fate of their standing crop have harvested paddy before time. We fail to understand why the people have to run away from their habitat for no fault of theirs,” demanded to know activist Zarina Da Cunha.
She said the people of Goa have put their faith in the present dispensation, but lamented that they are not getting justice. “Why the
Industrial slag from Cuncolim is being used at Nuvem,” she said.
Activist Laurel Abranches and Raju Iyer told the Collector that the transportation of mud from Sonsodo to Nuvem has turned the roads slippery resulting in accidents. “Trucks are not covered while transporting mud. The roads are also not cleaned by the contractor,” the duo said.
After giving the villagers and activists a patient hearing, the District Collector promised the delegation that immediate instructions will be issued to the PWD officials to get the trucks covered during transportation and to clean up the roads from time to time.
