MARGAO: Can the Public Works Department (PWD) brush aside the report compiled by another government agency, Water Resources Department (WRD) with a recommendation to build the Benaulim stretch of the western bypass on stilts?
Or, will the PWD, National Highway take a glance at the WRD study report and place the same before the High Court, which has been monitoring the construction of the western bypass?
These and other questions have come to the fore with PWD, NH officials in the know say they will go by the diktat of the government on the western bypass.
These questions assume further significance and come against the backdrop of the fact that the PWD, NH has now agreed to build 980 meters of the bypass on stilts between the wholesale fish market, Seraulim and the Mungul railway over bridge following recommendations made by the 10-member expert panel constituted by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
Activists pointed out there ought to be coordination between government agencies in respect of the project of this magnitude such as the 11-km bypass, which is passing through the flood plains of river Sal, at a stretch of 2.75 km. “In the instant case, the bypass project is being executed by the PWD, NH. And, the Water Resources Department (WRD) has on more than one occasion had called for construction of the bypass on stilts to prevent flooding,” remarked an activist.
He added: “What are the citizens expect to do in a situation when one department sounds caution over the construction of the bypass sans stilts and another department literally bulldozes its way without even a study”.
