Says it has no jurisdiction to stop any govt project; Local body says will move courts
PANAJI
Decks were cleared for work on the link road of the Mopa airport with the Panchayat Director on Monday ordering the panchayat to withdraw the stop-work order issued to the contractor but the panchayat has said it will challenge it in the courts.
Panchayat Director Siddhi Halarnkar passed the final order, allowing the appeal filed by the contractor holding that the Varkhand Nagzar panchayat had “no jurisdiction” to issue the ‘stop work’ order against any State government project.
“The project is very important to the under-construction Mopa International Airport, without which the aviation project is of no use,” Harlarnkar’s order claims.
She further said that the panchayat does not have the jurisdiction to issue a stop-work order for any state government project, adding that the contractor has all the necessary permissions to start construction of the link road.
Meanwhile, the Varkhand Nagzar panchayat will challenge the order before the Bombay High Court at Goa.
The panchayat had served its ‘stop work’ order on the contractor executing the link road work, but Halarnkar by an ex-parte order had stayed it on February 28.
The construction of the road is being opposed by residents of Tulaswadi, Nagzar, Warkhand and Dhargal villages arguing that it cuts through their villages and is destroying forests and plantations.
Farmers from these areas have been complaining that trees were being felled indiscriminately and no care is being taken to minimise damage to natural water springs.
Another reason for resistance to the project is that land-losing farmers are yet to receive compensation for their land acquired by the Central government.
The Mopa Panchkroshi Jan Sanghatana has been spearheading the resistance to the link-road project and the intensity of their protests had forced the Varkhand-Nagzar panchayat to issue the stop-work order to the company executing the work.
The State government, meanwhile, upped the deployment of police personnel to counter the physical deterrence to the progress of work by the contractor due to the protests.
The project is a 6.5-kilometre road that will link the site of the under-construction greenfield Mopa International Airport to the ‘National Highway 66’ and is crucial for connectivity.
The first phase of the airport is slated for completion and commissioning in August this year, according to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant who mentioned it in his budget speech last week in the Goa legislative assembly which makes completion of the link-road project in time even more crucial.
Sawant said Rs 16 crore is being provided in the budget for widening and re-carpeting the approach road to the airport and the current link-road project being opposed by the villagers will link the approach road to the National Highway 66 at Dhargal.
The 6.5-kilometre link-road is being executed by the Ashoka Builder Company and a total of Rs 1200 crore is being spent on it which includes constructing a flyover from Dhargal Sukekuran directly to Mopa Airport.
