the goan I network
MARGAO
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar will descend on Salcete in the New Year to assess the situation arising out of the demand made by the MLAs, including TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai, to build the Western bypass passing through the flood plains of river Sal on stilts.
The three MLAs, including TCP Minister, Benaulim MLA Churchill Alemao and Navelim MLA Luizinho Faleiro, had a meeting with the Chief Minister earlier this week along with top officials of the PWD, NH-17, besides the contractor who has bagged the contract to build the 11-km bypass.
All the three MLAs, representing Fatorda, Benaulim and Navelim, made a strong pitch before the Chief Minister for the construction of the bypass on stilts to prevent large-scale flooding of the low lying areas of the taluka.
The TCP Minister has demanded that the government should take up the bypass construction on stilts, beginning from the wholesale fish market to Comba via Mungul, on a stretch of 1.8 km, passing through Fatorda constituency.
The Benaulim MLA put forth his request to the Chief Minister, drawing attention of the officials that Benaulim-Khareband has been the worst flood-prone area along the entire stretch, adding that common sense demands that the bypass is constructed on stilts to avoid flooding.
While the Chief Minister had earlier promised to build the bypass on stilts passing through the Salpem lake in Navelim constituency, local MLA Luizinho Faleiro made a fervent plea before the Chief Minister to make similar arrangements at two places in Telaulim village, including an underpass at Coldem.
After hearing the views expressed by the three MLAs, the Chief Minister is believed to have told Vijai, Churchill and Luizinho that though he is not averse to building the bypass on stilts or on a similar facility, he has fixed inspection of the entire stretch in the first week of January before taking a final call on the demand for the bypass on stilts.
The TCP Minister told The Goan on Sunday that he is confident that the Chief Minister will sanction the bypass on stilts or on a similar facility along the stretch passing through Fatorda. "I have made it clear that the bypass should be built on stilts, starting from the wholesale fish market, at the railway crossing at Mungul and Comba," he said, adding that the Chief Minister is expected to inspect the stretch around January 3.
Navelim MLA Luizinho Faleiro also informed the media that the while the Chief Minister has been kind enough in sanctioning the bypass on stilts passing through the Salpem lake, he exuded confidence that Parrikar will find a way out to heed to the request of the people of Coldem to have a similar facility in the area. Work on the bypass on the Benaulim-Nuvem section has hit a block with residents of Mungul, besides Benaulim and Seraulim, physically blocking the construction work in the past.
