Threaten to agitate if govt goes ahead
the goan I network
MARGAO
A delegation of residents from these villages called on TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai on Tuesday, demanding in one voice there ought to be no state highway passing through their villages, while also asserting on the need for retainment of the existing width of the roads in the village without any further widening.
After giving a patient hearing, the TCP Minister sympathised with the demand raised by the residents, saying that Chandor is a historical and heritage village and promised to take up the issue with the PWD.
In the memorandum, the delegation pointed out that Chandor, Guirdolim and Cavorim were the capital of the Kadamba dynasty in the 11th century.
“Even before that, it was the capital of the Bhoja dynasty in the fourth century and as such there are many historical sites of great importance that even the Archaeological Survey of India has demarcated one site of prime importance,” the memorandum stated.
Besides, the delegation pointed out that there are many heritage houses in these villages, some of which are from the Portuguese era, while some are even of pre-Portuguese period. “The house where the Father of Goa’s freedom fighter T B Cunha was born is in our village and is one of the houses likely to be affected by the State highway,” they pointed out, adding that a highway passing through the villages will spell doom to these heritage houses as they will not be able to survive the vibrations caused by the heavy and light vehicles passing by.
The memorandum stated that even in the regional plans, no state highway was ever shown as passing through these villages, which proves that it was never the intention of the government to have a state highway passing through their villages.
“If a state highway is meant to connect taluka capitals then please note that Curchorem is not the capital of the taluka and therefore the road connecting our villages to Curchorem cannot be a state highway,” the residents argued, further pointing out that the district administration has already banned heavy traffic from plying through
these villages.
