PONDA: Leaving no stone unturned to save their village from destruction due to the proposed highway expansion, the Bhomkars recently petitioned to the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, seeking her intervention to stop the project, which has been duly acknowledged by the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Responding to the petition, P C Meena, Under Secretary at President’s Secretariat, Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, asked the Secretary, Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) to take “appropriate action” on it and “communicate the action taken on the petition, directly to the petitioner”.
Bhomkars have been opposing to the proposed highway expansion as according to them, the project would destroy their village completely. As a solution to the problem, the villagers have been demanding for a bypass road passing either from the field or from the local industrial area.
The Bhoma villagers in their petition to the President of India, had filed an objection to the National Highway NH 4-A (748) passing through Bhoma village. They mentioned that most of the villagers fall under various socially backward categories and without giving any intimation to villagers, their land has been already acquired by government and published on official gazette.
“Due to widening of National Highway NH4A (748), our ancient temple and houses will be demolished, as well as divide the village in two halves. There are two options for highway one is from a field outside the village and another is from the industrial area,” the petition stated.
It further stated that government officials weren’t giving a clear picture about how many houses will be demolished for this project.
“On December 20, 2023 they forcefully counted trees and land by getting police force. Our people along with our older mothers and sisters were arrested by police just because they asked for a plan,” the petitioners stated.
Local villager Sanjay Naik said, “We had sent our petition on January 11 this year and received feedback from the Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 17, wherein, the MoRTH has been asked to take appropriate action and inform the villagers about the same. We are happy that the President of India has taken note of the petition.”