PANAJI: A public meeting organised by the newly formed National Highway Diversion Action Committee, which received tremendous response from social activists and political parties, strongly demanded that the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) plan of 4/6 laning of NH 17 and NH4A should be scrapped on the grounds that it will destroy villages and do more harm than good.
Besides receiving support from opposition leader Manohar Parrikar and former ministers Nirmala Sawant and Matanhy Saldanha, other prominent personalities who supported the committee included former convenor of GBA (Goa Bachao Abhiyan), Prajal Sakhardande, Aires Rodrigues and others.
Speakers at the meeting held here at Gomantak Maratha samaj hall charged the government with blindly following the diktats of the central government which in this case is through NHAI.
In a fiery speech, Dr Oscar Rebello said development should not come at the cost of damaging people's co-existence, culture, ethos and identity of any place. Criticising the government, he said, there is no policy on development.
He said if the government wants to construct the highway by demolishing people's houses and dividing villages, the government should first get back the huge tracks of land lying with
SEZ promoters, bring back missing Atala and put a stop to illegal mining.
Making it clear that he is opposed to the expansion of the highways in the present form, Parrikar said if the present plan is followed, then people would face ill-effects for centuries to come.
Sakhardande said several heritage structures will be sacrificed. tnn
Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com