MARGAO
Farmers of Benaulim along with the villagers have rejected the Goa government’s offer to build additional culverts along the western bypass passing through the village, as they vowed to continue the agitation till the bypass is built on stilts.
The farmers and the villagers have vowed to take the long-drawn battle forward by intensifying the agitation and seek legal remedy as well.
The farmers and the villagers had a meeting at the Benaulim panchayat hall to take stock of the situation after the PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral unveiled the plan to build 12 additional water passes along the 650-metre stretch of the bypass passing through Tolleaband water body.
The farmers pointed out that the unprecedented inundation of Tolleaband and the surrounding areas in the last monsoons have only proved that land filling will further aggravate the situation in the future, insisting that only construction of the bypass on stilts will save inundation of the village in the future.
The meeting attended by Sarpanch Xavier Pereira, petitioner in the National Green Tribunal Royla Fernandes, citizens and the farmers went into a huddle after the PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral officially communicated to a delegation of Benaulim villagers led by the sarpanch that the government has not considered the demand for the bypass on stilts.
The meeting weighed various options at the disposal of the farmers and the villagers and it was unanimously resolved to explore all options, including knocking the doors of the Judiciary again.
Sources informed that suggestions were made to intensify the agitation by involving all the neighbouring villages since some of these villages in the past had demanded construction of the bypass on stilts.
A suggestion was also made to explore the possibility of seeking an appointment with the Union Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari to explain to him why the farmers and villagers have been insisting on the construction of the western bypass on stilts.
While the NGT-appointed expert panel had recommended construction of the bypass to a stretch of 980 metres along the Seraulim-Mungul stretch, the Benaulim villagers have been knocking the doors of the NGT and the High Court, besides the government to build at least the portion of the Tolleaband water body, where the farmers are cultivating the fields, but the water body has been acting as a water catchment area during the monsoons.
