Nitin Gadkari tells PWD to resolve senior citizens’ issue over NH work in Goa

PANAJI: After running from pillar to post, the plight of senior citizens from a residential colony in Bambolim, has finally been taken cognizance of by the Union minister for road transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari.
The minister’s office has asked the state Public Works Department (PWD) and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to take necessary measures to ensure the senior citizens do not face hardships due to highway widening work at Bambolim.
“Gadkari has taken a serious note of the difficulties faced by the people, particularly the senior citizens, and has instructed that the issues narrated may be taken up for resolution at once. The action taken in the matter intimated to us for information of minister, MoRTH,” Sanket Bhondve, IAS, private secretary to the Union minister has said in his email to the PWD and the NHAI.
The residents’ petition has been pending with the Goa State Human Rights Commission and the chief minister’s office, besides the PWD.
The elderly residents of Palmar Colony have alleged that the present work is a deviation from the original highway expansion plan on the stretch.
The altered plan is illegal and has been causing severe inconvenience to the colony residents, most of whom are elderly, the senior citizens had told the Union minister in their petition.
The colony is located near the Goa Medical College complex, Bambolim.
“In constructing 4-lane highway; EPC contractor and consultant have encroached the existing St Cruz-Bambolim MDR road reducing the width of this road from 8 to 4.5m. Hence the traffic from St Cruz-Bambolim Goa Medical College, particularly ambulance traffic, is passing through our private residential colony road which creates nuisance and unsafe condition to the residents,” the senior citizens have said, presenting document procured under RTI to back their claims.
The residents said that the ill-planned highway work and changes were made with the ulterior motive to safeguard the interest of one person who owns a structure on this road stretch.
The contractor has also excavated side of the present highway road to a depth of nearly 12-15m to extract earth to use for filling of the highway road project and has left this excavated stretch in a dangerous condition, locals said.