MARGAO
Gram sabha members told the village sarpanch Frank Fernandes to forward to the government the resolution which was adopted by the previous gram sabha demanding scrapping of the controversial western bypass.
The gram sabha also opposed the proposed move to make Goa and MPT a coal hub, saying that such a mega project is certainly not in the interest of Goa and Goans.
At the gram sabha chaired by sarpanch Frank Fernandes on Sunday, the controversial western bypass came up for discussion when members expressed concerned over the huge width of the proposed bypass, demanding to know whether the road is a bypass or an expressway connecting Canacona and Pernem. Members pointed out that the proposed bypass is just a expressway connecting North and South ahead of the
Mopa airport.
Local Navelim MLA Luizinho Faleiro, who attended the meeting, also joined in the discussion. He clarified that when the bypass was proposed initially, the road was not meant to be a huge bypass which is presently being built by the PWD.
The Navelim gram sabha resolution demanding scrapping of the western bypass comes against the backdrop of the local MLA claiming that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has promised to build the bypass on stilts along the stretch passing through the Salpem lake. “We don’t want the bypass at all. People of Navelim want the bypass to be scrapped. We do not want it in stilts,” gram sabha member Sidharth Karapurkar later told the media.
Sarpanch Frank later told the media that the gram sabha has directed the panchayat to forward the earlier resolution adopted by the gram sabha demanding scrapping of the western bypass.
“The gram sabha at one of its meetings had resolved to demand scrapping of the bypass. Since the gram sabha members have passed a resolution, the panchayat will forward the previous resolution demanding scrapping of the bypass,” the sarpanch informed.
