PANAJI
Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has assured residents of Bhoma that no religious structures will be affected during the widening of the Ponda-Bhoma stretch of National Highway (NH) 748.
In his reply in the Lok Sabha on Friday, Gadkari clarified that the NH widening has been finalised along the existing alignment to minimise the impact on structures and water bodies.
“It has been aligned in such a way that there is bare minimum impact on the existing structures/ water bodies. No religious structures are affected and the elevated structure in the built-up area has been proposed within available Right of Way (RoW) for smooth and incident-free movement of traffic,” he said.
The widening scheme of the NH along the existing alignment has been finalised based on the proposal submitted by the State Government after local consultations. Acquisition of a bare minimum of 4.53 Ha of land is required along the existing NH alignment, he added as he replied to Congress MP Viriato Fernandes’ queries on steps taken by the government to save religious structures, houses and temple ponds at the proposed site of NH at Bhoma in Priol.
Fernandes also asked whether locals were consulted, the reasons for not opting for a bypass mentioned in the Regional Plan 2021, and whether the State government plans to realign the highway to address residents’ concerns.
The Centre recently sanctioned Rs 557 crore for the construction of the 9.6-km stretch from Ponda to Bhoma. This led to concerns among residents, who urged Gadkari to ensure their issues regarding NH road widening were resolved.
