Clarifying that he was not driven away from the Chandor Cavorim gram sabha last Sunday, Cuncolim MLA Clafacio Dias admitted that there were some heated discussions and added that he would try to get the State Highway 8 notified as village road. “I had gone to seek a clarification on the State Highway 8 issue which the villagers had asked me that they wanted it to be changed to a village road but now I realise that it has been changed to a major district road,” he said.
Pointing out that the difference between State Highway and MDR is only five metres width, he said heavy vehicles would ply on the MDR and that is why he sought a clarification on what the villagers needed. “Vijai Sardessai has got it changed to MDR and in future I did not want the villagers to hold me responsible for it especially since they do not want heavy vehicles plying through their heritage village as they will damage heritage structures,” he said. He said there were only a handful of people in the hall and admitted that some of his supporters did question him about the political developments.