Goa govt should reveal national highway alignment info: CSJP

Goa Church’’s social wing, Council for Social Justice and Peace (CSJP), today said the government should come out clean on the alignment of the proposed national highway in the state before starting the project.

“There is lack of information about the alignment. We demand that government come out clearly on hard facts of the alignment,” CSJP Convenor Fr Maverick Fernandes told PTI.

Even some of the government departments are not sure about the alignment, he claimed.

The national highway expansion in Goa has met with major objection, with people opposing the current alignment.

National Highway Diversion Action Committee (NHDAC) had yesterday held a massive morcha in the city demanding scrapping of the existing alignment.

CSJP said people of Goa have the right to participate in the development process, which is meant for their own well being. “How can people decide in the wake of lack of information about alignment?” Fernandes questioned.

He said it is not known whether National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) or state government has decided the alignment and which way it is going.

Goa government is struggling to acquire land for the proposed highway expansion.

Union Road and Highways Minister Kamal Nath, during his recent visit to Goa, had said that the roads would not be constructed against wishes of the people.