PANJIM: The residents of Bhoma on Monday refuted the claims made by PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral that only four houses will be demolished for national highway expansion and alleged that the government has brought an alignment which was dropped following protests way back in 2010.
Sushant Naik, a resident said that bypass is the only solution to protect their houses at Bhoma.
He said that as many as 33 houses have been shown in the Official Gazette which in all probability will be demolished.
“The PWD Minister is telling lies and is wasting his time and of the villagers. The bypass is the only alternative to save our houses and temples,” he added.
In a shockingly ironical revelation villagers state that the BJP in opposition had opposed this same alignment which they are hell-bent on maintaining. Following protests, the then government constituted a House Committee that studied the entire issue and dropped the alignment,
Sanjay Naik, who is spearheading the protest to demand a bypass at Bhoma, said, “Why can’t the government adopt the alignment prepared following an aerial survey in 2002? The BJP leaders who were at the forefront of the agitation in the past have conveniently forgotten it and have now forced the villagers to take to the streets. The villagers now feel that by allowing BJP leaders including Parrikar they have been cheated and it was only a ploy to come back to power in 2012.”
Naik continued, “I know my village better than Cabral. In 2002, the then government had conducted an aerial survey for construction of a bypass but it never materialised. In 2010, during the Congress regime, a new alignment was proposed and the villagers with the support of the BJP leaders including the then Leader of the Opposition Manohar Parrikar waged a battle to drop the same.”
According to Naik, in all, four temples will be affected and the village will be divided if the government goes ahead with the NH expansion and only a bypass will protect the houses and temples.
Naik asked, “If a single house of any minister’s sister-in-law or a relative had to be demolished, would the minister go ahead with it? The minister would have made all efforts to align the route and protect their houses.”
Putu Gaude, a resident from Nagzari is clueless and is keeping his fingers crossed about the imminent threat to his house.
He said, “My house is situated barely 2.5 metres from the main road and the expansion will definitely demolish my house and four other houses which are situated nearby. We can’t trust the minister and the government, given the past bitter experience as how politicians use them only to oppose the same alignment and to bring it again now.”