Chinchinim locals object to add’l land acquisition for widening of NH66

While making a humble plea to the Special Land Acquisition officer to drop the plan to acquire additional land, the land losers have reiterated their plea to the government to construct the bypass road instead of going for road widening.

One of the land losers pointed out that the government had already acquired their land for the widening of the national highway around two decades ago while saying the government should stop the acquisition of their ancestral land.

Sarpanch Valentino Barretto informed that all the people whose land has been proposed for acquisition for the NH 66 expansion have opposed the proposal. He demanded to know the propriety of the government in acquiring additional land when they had in the past acquired the land for the Highway expansion.

The sarpanch informed that the residents of Dandeavaddo in Chinchinim had been demanding a road bypass instead of building a flyover along the highway stretch passing through the village. “We had proposed a road bypass, starting from Sirlim before the bypass meets the NH 66 at Sarzora. The people of Cuncolim have also been demanding a road bypass running parallel to the Konkan railway tracks,” he said.

He, however, lamented that the Union Surface Transport Ministry has not considered the demands of Chinchinim and Cuncolim locals and has now finalized plans to expand the NH 66 along the existing stretch.

“The PWD has proposed a flyover at Dandeavaddo-Chinchinim when the residents have been demanding a road bypass. A road bypass would have taken care of the future traffic requirements, but the PWD and the government appear hell-bent on constructing the Navelim-Cuncolim stretch of the highway on the existing highway sans a bypass,” Valentino added.

The land losers who have been served notices are expected to appear before the Special Land Acquisition officer for a hearing on the matter.