QUEPEM
Claiming that there was no blueprint of the actual planned road widening worth Rs 6 crore, the affected villagers rejected the planned road widening project from Karally to Tilamol at Quepem.
A meeting of the villagers, who are directly affected due to planned road widening, was convened at the Quepem Municipal Council (QMC) and was chaired by Quepem MLA Chandrakant (Babu) Kavlekar, QMC Chairperson Raul Pereira, PWD engineer Santosh Dessai, Chief Officer Darshani Dessai and councilors.
The villagers were informed that traffic on the road has drastically increased in the past few months and road widening is necessary. It was informed that it is planned to widen the road on both sides by 1 metre and only a few people are getting effected however it was not know which structures will be affected in the process.
Replying to the queries of the villagers, the PWD engineer said presently, the road is 7 metres wide and after widening it will be 9 metres.
The villagers said the present road is not over 5 metres and sought to know if there was blue print showing actual width of the road and all the structures which are within the road widening area.
They also demanded that instead of 1 metre widening, 2 metre widening on both sides is a better option and the land within the widening area be acquired and the villagers be compensated for it.
Adv Hegde and Bhende proposed bypass road from the planned new bus stop which will not affect any structures and will serve the increasing traffic in future.
MLA Kavlekar said the government has provided Rs 28 crore for the development which has to be utilized during the present financial year. However, Madukar Fal Dessai said funds must not be spent just because they are being allotted but proper planning is required.
Adv Diniz proposed that the MLA takes into consideration the proposed bypass and start the process at the earliest and in the meantime prepare the actual blueprint of the planned road widening for the villagers to examine and initiate the road widening proposal after consultation with the affected villagers.
Raul Pereira assured the villagers that he will get the blueprint ready within 15 days and convene a second meeting.
