Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: The High Court of Bombay at Goa has asked those opposing the proposed NH 748 alignment through Bhoma to hold discussions with National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials, representatives of the local temple committee and technical experts before the next hearing.
The direction was issued by a Division Bench comprising Justice Valmiki Menezes and Justice Amit Jamsandekar while hearing the challenge to the proposed highway alignment and elevated corridor.
During the proceedings, Advocate General Devidas Pangam told the court that the NHAI’s proposed alignment and construction methodology had been planned in a manner that would keep the temples in the area unaffected.
The Advocate General also submitted that the NHAI had proposed a bow-string bridge over the Bhoma lake to minimise the impact of the project on the water body.
After considering the submissions and examining the plan presented by the NHAI, the Bench directed the petitioners’ counsel to meet the concerned NHAI officials along with temple committee members and technical experts. The court said the exercise should be completed within a week.
The matter has been posted for further hearing on September 30.
The petitioners had raised concerns over the possible impact of the proposed project on three to four temples, Bhoma lake and several houses believed to be around a century old.
The latest court direction provides an opportunity for the petitioners and local stakeholders to understand the technical details of the proposed alignment and the safeguards being planned by the highway authority.
The case follows an earlier High Court ruling in which a petition filed by 57 villagers against the Bhoma-Corlim highway widening project was dismissed. The court had held that the highway project was in public interest.
In that judgment, the earlier Division Bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Nivedita Mehta had emphasised the importance of national and public interest in matters involving national highways. The Bench had also noted that the alignment had been finalised by engineers and technical experts after considering the need to minimise the impact on properties and structures.
