GUILHERME ALMEIDA
MARGAO
Will the powers that be and the authorities, including district authorities, PWD and Traffic police explain to Madgavkars why the High Court directions passed exactly a year ago to make the long-delayed ring-road between Mungul-Comba-Pedda temporarily functional to ease out the traffic entering Margao city is still confined to the papers?
While agencies are busy preoccupied with the streamlining of the fancy traffic signals at the Colva circle, Old market, it’s a year now since the High Court order had set six months-time for the government to make the long-delayed ring-road functional after rehabilitating the displaced families, but in vain.
Otherwise, consider this: On July 31, 2017, Justice Nutan Sardesai and Justice F M Reis granted time to the government to comply with the rehabilitation process of all the families likely to be displaced for the construction of the ring-road by a period of six months. By the same order, the High Court had directed the government to provide immediate accommodation to rehabilitate the 15 families at the transit camps at the premises identified by the State government. “The government to construct sufficient space of a minimum of 10 metres approximately at the site to ensure that the ring-road is temporarily functional until the permanent rehabilitation is complete,” the High Court had said.
The Advocate General even pointed out to the Court that the concerned authorities have identified 15 families who have to be immediately rehabilitated in the transit camps so that a minimum of 10 metres width motorable road is provided at the subject site to ease out the traffic entering the city of Margao. The Advocate General has also given the names of different schools where the 15 families would be put up.
After the High Court’s order, TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai along with PWD officials inspected the site near the Comba subway, where the structures of the families are located along the ring road alignment and resolved to shift the families to the vacant Goa Housing Board flats at the Rumdamol Housing Board.
In January, 2018, however, when the matter came up before the High Court presided over by Justice Shantanu S Kemkar and Justice Nutan D Sardesai, the government filed an application seeking extension of time by three more months to shift the 15 families affected by the ring road construction.
The ground reality, however, remained unchanged till date. When the matter again came up before the High Court Bench heard by Justice N M Jamdar and Justice Shantanu S Kemkar on August 7, the government advocate sought time to file a detailed affidavit pointing out the stages in which the government proposes to comply with the order passed by the court a year ago to make the ring road functional and also rehabilitate the 15 families.
A senior PWD official told The Goan that the PWD is ready to execute work on the ring road project once the district Collector’s office hands over the land in question for development. “On our part, we are ready to execute work on the ring road on condition the land is made available to the PWD. It is for the Collector’s office to clear the road blocks and the claims of the families residing along the ring road alignment,” the official said.
It is learnt that the Goa Housing Board had also given the nod for the temporary rehabilitation of the displaced families till the government works out a permanent rehabilitation of the families on the acquired land admeasuring 7,000 square metres along the ring road at Comba.
