panjim: The villagers of Loutolim and Borim on Tuesday expressed their strong resentment over the sudden postponement of the public hearing for land acquisition for the new Borim bridge.
The villagers complained that without giving any reason the PWD engineers postponed the hearing which was scheduled for Tuesday, December 14. The villagers were further annoyed when they were told that no new alignment had been prepared by the PWD.
Totally in the dark about land to be acquired and houses to be demolished
The villagers of Borim have opposed the alignment of the new Borim bridge because they have not been informed about the total land to be acquired and the total number of houses to be demolished for the proposed Borim bridge.
The villagers continued demanding that they be shown the alignment of the proposed bridge and tension erupted in the PWD office after the engineers refused to give details stating that they had no information.
What is the point of hearing if PWD doesn’t have details
The villagers demanded to know the reasons for fixing the hearing if they did not have the details like the total land acquisition and the total number of houses to be razed.
They said that they had been informed by the local MLA and Minister Subhash Shirodkar that only one house would be demolished towards Borim while PWD engineers had not even seen the alignment. In such a situation how can the local MLA claim that only one house will be demolished? They asked.
The villagers said that the government is trying to acquire a minimum of 40 metres long area on either side of the proposed bridge and ridiculed the minister’s statement that only one house will be demolished.
They said that they were not against road widening, but wanted the government to come clean on the entire Borim bridge project.
Residents of Raia, Loutolim, and the surrounding areas have been protesting against the proposed bridge since November this year. Their primary concerns revolve around the construction process, particularly the plan to build the bridge on stilts and columns.
The villagers fear that this approach would necessitate the development of an approach road for transporting construction materials. Such a road, they argue, would inevitably lead to the filling of Khazan lands and the destruction of vital agricultural fields.
Furthermore, the protesters have criticized the government for what they perceived as a lack of transparency and community involvement. They expressed particular concern about the environmental impact of the proposed project, highlighting the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) areas that might be affected.
The alignment recommended by the Public Works Department (PWD) and accepted by the Union Ministry of Road, Highways, and Transport has drawn sharp criticism from the villagers, who feel that their voices and the potential environmental consequences have been overlooked in the decision-making process.