PANAJI
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has assured a delegation of villagers from Bhoma that the road (highway) expansion project in their village will not affect any portion of the temple or any residential house.
"No portion of the temple will be demolished," Sawant told the delegation of Bhoma villagers who met him in Sanquelim on Friday.
He said his government was sensitive towards the sentiments of the local community.
"We don’t want to demolish a single house. If any house is being affected, show me -- I’m ready to change the plan," Sawant is heard saying in a video of the meeting with the villagers.
Sawant also said that he would be meeting the Bhoma villagers again on Monday at the State Secretariat where a technical team will present a detailed plan of the road expansion project besides addressing their concerns.
The resistance to the highway expansion project by the villagers in Bhoma has stalled the project for over two years. The locality falls in the jurisdiction of Priol constituency which is represented by Art and Culture Minister Govind Gaude and the issue had been blowing hot and cold for long.
They have been demanding a bypass road instead of a flyover which they say will disrupt their village socio-culturally and also hamper their religious and cultural activities.
Earlier this week, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had announced sanctioning Rs 1,060.21 crore for the four-laning of the 7-kilometre Bhoma to Old Goa stretch along NH-748.
Gadkari had taken to his social media account to inform about the sanction stating that the highway is a key route for passenger and freight movement from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka to Goa.
