Team Herald
MARGAO: Activists who have raised concerns about the possible flooding and other ecological consequences the western bypass can bring, have questioned what happened to the promises given by the PWD minister.
Jose Roque Andrade from Nuvem questioned: what has happened to the assurances given by the PWD minister at a public hearing that fields and low-lying areas would not be filled for the western bypass?
“The filling of fields and low lying areas in southern side of Nuvem is in progress. The mud should be removed and pillars should be installed in this area. Wet mud is dumped along the existing road, which is seeping into the fields along with rain water. This can be prevented by erecting retaining walls,” said Jose.
“The PWD Minister had also assured that the pipes will be replaced by culverts for proper flow of water and also for animals to cross under the road and the plan will be revised as per requirement. But we see that pipes are installed instead of culverts and mud is dumped over the pipes,” Jose pointed out. He also objected to the size of the road expansion in Nuvem.
Activist Sidharth Karapukar flayed the government and referred to the letter shot of by the TCP to the PWD saying it had not given permission for extraction of land/ hill cutting. He criticised the government for not having carried out environmental impact assessment studies.
“There is already a eastern bypass passing through Navelim; the present road is being widened to 4 lanes. So, why do we need an entirely new by-pass? The present eastern bypass could be properly aligned,” said Navelim based activist Joseph Vaz.
Claiming that Navelim has developed considerably like Margao,
Vaz lamented that the government was not listening to the grievances of the affected farmers in the route passing through Navelim whose fields were getting destroyed.
