Telaulim says no to highway

MARGAO: Telaulim Villagers registered their protest against the western express highway proposed in the draft regional plan at the gram sabha on Sunday. A resolution was unanimously adopted demanding that the proposed highway project, the western express highway connecting, Navelim to Nuvem be immediately scrapped.
Irate villagers demanded to know the need for constructing the western express highway when the eastern bypass that is nearing completion served the intended purpose of the proposed western express highway.Residents also brought to the notice of the gram sabha that the proposed alignment passes through a recently constructed irrigation canal and questioned the rationale of the authorities in having a road passing through the canal. "A huge amount of money has been spent by the government in constructing this canal. The tax payers' money would go down the drain if the government goes ahead with the proposed alignment for the express highway," a gram sabha member remarked.
Expressing concern over the imminent demolition of a large number of residential houses and destruction of agricultural land in the village, some gram sabha members suggested a diversion in the alignment that bypassed inhabited areas. Villagers also expressed apprehension that the large scale filling of fields would render the village prone to flooding during the monsoons.
The issue of contamination of potable water supplied through the Selaulim water supply plant also came to the fore with the villagers demanding that the government take necessary steps to ensure supply of pure water. They also demanded that all mining activity within or surrounding the catchment areas of Selaulim dam be banned. "Mining rejects invariably find their way into the Selaulim waters, it is therefore imperative that all mining activity in the vicinity of the dam be stopped in the larger interests of public health," a gram sabha member said. A resolution to this effect was later unanimously adopted.
Opposition to the Mopa airport also found an echo in the gram sabha with villagers demanding that status of the existing Dabolim airport be elevated.