MARGAO
Even as reports suggest that the National Highways division of the State PWD has submitted a detailed project report for the new high-level Borim bridge at an estimated cost of Rs 1,000 crore, farmers from Loutolim are anxiously waiting for the hearing of their High Court petition later this week.
Chairman of the Carbot Cantor Mascasana Khazan Tenants Association, Alberto Pinheiro, told The Goan on Sunday that the farmers are confident the High Court will give them relief. He said their main demand is that the bridge should not be built through the khazan fields. “The government may say anything about the bridge, but we are confident that the High Court will deliver justice to the farmers,” he said.
Around 40 farmers from Loutolim have filed the petition seeking a stay on the project, which they say will destroy their age-old khazan fields. They have named the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and seven others as respondents.
The petition states that the proposed bridge alignment passes through fertile khazan fields and will badly affect the livelihood of farmers and the local fishing community. The farmers have been fighting for years to save their fields from destruction. Although the Union ministry has already gone ahead with land acquisition, including thousands of square metres of khazan land, the farmers have not stopped cultivating these fields and are continuing their legal battle.
Earlier, the farmers had also approached the National Green Tribunal, urging the Centre, the Goa government, the PWD and the National Highways authorities to reconsider or redesign the project on NH-17B (now NH-566). They argued that the present design ignores CRZ and forest areas, and fails to assess the impact on eco-sensitive zones and people dependent on them. They had also sought that the project should not proceed without prior environmental clearance under the EIA Notification, 2006.
