Nuvem residents gave Margao police the jitters when over hundreds of agitated villagers assembled near the Goa Chief Ministers' residence on Friday evening in protest against the acquisition of land at Nuvem for the proposed six lane highway passing through the village which could result in the demolition of over 125 homes on the proposed stretch.
With Ms Ethel Lobo and Sanjeev Raiturcar of "Goa for Goans" leading the march, the villagers first went to the office of the Town and Country planning department of Margao to register the protest and were agitated for the failure of the town planner in keeping up to his appointment.
Subsequently the villagers decided to meet the TCP minister who coincidentally is the Chief Minister and as a result landed up at the CM's residence. The confrontation between the Police and the Nuvem villagers could have escalated but for the timely phone call from the Chief Minister not to arrest any villagers or use any forceful methods against them.
On Saturday morning the Chief Minister met a delegation of the Citizens Welfare committee who informed him that the houses in the Gorvotte area of Nuvem would be destroyed and it would be a unsustainable kind of development for the village as the proposed highway was passing through residential as well as agricultural areas of the Nuvem village. The Chief Minister assured them all help and justice in the case and was expected to call for a joint meeting with PWD officials to discuss the highway alignment after the assembly session.
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