PANJIM, May 25 -- The Assagao gram sabha, which convened on Sunday, witnessed heated discussions over the issue of road widening, with villagers expressing concern that the village's identity was at stake. Residents claimed the wide roads were being constructed solely to benefit developers of mega projects and to accommodate an increasing vehicular population.

Villagers argued that broader roads would not ease congestion, as the core problem lay in the lack of basic driving discipline. "This has to be rectified first," they insisted.

Ranjit Parsekar called for the scrapping of the regional plan that mandates 25-metre-wide roads, asserting that any widening should be based on the will of the people and genuine necessity. He was supported...