Team Herald
PONDA: Even as the government has proposed to construct a bandhara on the Khandepar River, locals from Sonarbaag-Usgao said that they would in no way allow the project to come up as they feared that constructed it would flood the low lying areas during the monsoon and stated that it was more of a curse than a boon.
The Rs 100 crore bandhara-cum-barrage is planned in order to improve water supply for Priol constituency, however, locals out of fear of flooding during the monsoon, have opposed to the project.
Locals gathered at the proposed construction site earmarked for the bandhara and vowed to oppose it tooth and nail stating that they had earlier expressed their opposition to the project right from day one when the Water Resources Department (WRD) officials held a meeting with the villagers.
They charged that if the bandhara is constructed, it would block the flow of water to the Dudhsagar River from Karnataka and will be dangerous to the villagers. “The officials should think first about the adverse consequences it would have on the village,” the villagers stated.
The locals recalled that in July 2021, when the floods had inundated Usgao, water had entered homes and washed away household goods and many mud houses had collapsed then.
“Now with the construction of the bandhara, things will go from bad to worse and even khazan lands will be badly hit,” they feared and added that many people affected by the floods are yet to receive compensation from the government.
