MARGAO
Benaulim upped the ante in support of the western bypass on stilts as they picked holes in the calculations and the methodology adopted by the agencies, including the Water Resources Department (WRD), to rule out flooding of the village if the bypass is built sans stilts.
Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas and Rudolf Barretto contested the calculations made by the WRD saying that a glance at the calculations revealed there’s huge scope for errors and that it can be mitigated only by building the bypass on stilts.
Given the situation, the villagers have now called for the appointment of a consultant to adopt a concrete method with proper tools to ensure that the right calculation of water accumulations is derived that would put the bypass on stilts.
After the meeting, Venzy told the media that the WRD officials have done the drawings with a pencil on the map without ascertaining the ground reality.
“Any slight deviations of the drawings could cost the people of Benaulim dearly. They have mentioned that the average rainfall in the village is 10 mm per hour, but in another report relating to the Colva ground, the authorities had shown 12 mm rainfall per hour. This is a big contradiction and can impact the village during monsoons”, he said.
Venzy added: “The western bypass is a matter of life and death for the Benaulim villagers. The village is facing imminent flooding if the rains come pouring. There is no chance of salvation this time. Hence, we make a humble plea to the government to put the bypass on stilts”.
