Will give in writing, Bhoma work to impact only four homes: CM

Panaji: To resolve the long-standing issue of local opposition to four-laning of the highway through Bhoma village, chief minister Pramod Sawant held a discussion with villagers. PWD officials made a presentation of the project for the locals. Sawant said that construction of a bypass demanded by the villagers is not feasible as there are eco-sensitive and khazan lands involved.
Sawant reiterated that only four houses will be affected by the work and that no temples will be impacted. He said that this will be given in writing to the villagers, as per their demand.
The CM said that alternative land and funds will be provided to those losing the four structures for their reconstruction.
“Even a small part of the temple will not be affected. It had been misunderstood. I explained it to them, and they were convinced too. Another misinformation among the people was that the road being constructed is 60m wide. We are constructing only 25m-wide road. Thirdly, there will be no obstruction to access one temple from another. There was also a misunderstanding that around 40 houses will be demolished. Only four houses will be affected by the work,” said Sawant after the meeting.
Of the four structures to be affected, two belong to a single person—a house and shop. “They will be provided with four plots, and they will also be provided with the money to reconstruct the structures. There are some small kiosks operating on the land already acquired for the road works. If they want, we will make a provision next to the road to set up their new shops,” said Sawant.
He said locals should realise that with this road widening work there will be no accidents on this stretch in the future.
“The Union ministry’s process for the works is nearly complete. To start the process all over again will be difficult. The other land (suggested for the bypass) has eco-sensitive lands, khazan lands. Tomorrow our engineers will be at the site. I have asked the people to cooperate with them. The engineers will carry out the marking and show, and people can see whether their properties are being covered under the works,” Sawant said.
“The people have asked in writing. And we will give them in writing that no other structure or temple besides the four houses will be affected by the works. They have misunderstood that if a survey number is shown in the plan, then all houses under those survey numbers will be demolished. Some are misguiding them. But today they were convinced to a large extent,” said Sawant.
The meeting comes after Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari announced the sanction of Rs 1,060.2 crore for the four-laning of the 7km stretch from Bhoma to Old Goa on NH 748.