MARGAO
Inauguration of the missing link road at Loutolim has been kept on hold with the villagers drawing attention of PWD Minister Deepak Pauskar to the various discrepancies that have been left unresolved till date.
After an inspection of the Missing link road wherein villagers showed the sinking embankment to the bridge, farmers protesting over silt deposits in their fields and motorists demanding widening of the junction with provision for traffic signals, the PWD Minister told Nuvem MLA Wilfred D’Sa that the missing link road will be inaugurated only after all the issues affecting the project are resolved.
The minister has now called a meeting of the PWD and the Water Resources departments in the Secretariat on Monday to resolve all outstanding issues before the missing link road is formally inaugurated.
When the minister and officials visited the site at the invitation of the Nuvem MLA, agitated villagers gave vent to their sentiments, showing Pauskar and the MLA how the embankment to the bridge has settled down.
The minister assured that the missing link road will be inaugurated only after all the issues are addressed. “We will not open the road till all the pending works are completed. Only after the issues are resolved and till the road is finally ready, we will not inaugurate the road”, he said, while assuring that traffic signals will be installed at the junction to regulate traffic flow.
MLA D’Sa told the media that he brought the minister for inspection after the Loutolim Sarpanch Vaz and the villagers called on me about their pending issues regarding the missing link. “We have told the minister to widen the junction and to install the traffic signals. Since silt has deposited in the fields, the WRD officials have also been called for the meeting scheduled on Monday”, the MLA said.
A villager Ramiro Mascarenhas said the inspection was fixed on Wednesday since mud and silt from the project has found its way in the fields, devastating the khazan.
“We have also brought to the notice of the Minister about the quality of the embankment to the missing link bridge as the embankments were found sinking. We want the issues raised by the farmers addressed and clear the cross drains”, he said, while demanding implementation of the safety measures at the site.
