Bhoma bypass plan to be investigated by Nitin Gadkari

21 Feb 2023 CW Team

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari stated that he will investigate the request to halt a bypass road which was intended to enlarge the present highway running through Corlim and Bhoma villages in North Goa. In a letter to Gadkari, Shripad Naik, Union Minister of State for Tourism requested that he take the locals' proposal for a bypass road into consideration. In his answer to Naik, Gadkari stated, “I am in receipt of your letter seeking that the road widening of NH4A through Corlim and Bhoma villages of North Goa be halted in favour of a bypass route via the nearby fallow fields instead. I am having the matter looked into.”

The residents of Corlim and Bhoma, one of the tiniest villages in Goa, are opposed to the road widening because they believe it will result in the destruction of homes and shrines and alter the nature of the community. They claim that some significant temples in the village will need to be demolished in order to make room for the highway expansion. They said that the development of the road will further demolish the structure of the village because a sizable portion of the village property has already been used for an industrial complex.

Erwin De Sa, a retired professor, had written to Naik in October last year asking that the intended work be stopped and that the construction of a bypass through the nearby fallow fields be instead taken into consideration. Naik, who is a resident of Corlim, requested Gadkari to please check into the request by Professor De Sa in a letter to the minister. The Kadamba plateau and Kundaim can be reached via an alternative road that runs for 7 kilometres. According to the villagers, this path is not only 2 km shorter, but it also avoids areas of human settlement and travels largely through barren country.

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