MARGAO: Agitated locals of Sao Jose de Areal, comprising mostly womenfolk, sent back the team of Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) officials, who had gone to the village on Monday to demarcate the area proposed to be acquired for the double tracking of the South Western Railway line.
It may be recalled that the exercise was to be carried out on September 15, however, the railway officials did not turn up as the main engineer had to rush to Mangalore.
Two Site Engineers Sachin Kumar and Manoj Kumar along with two Junior Site Engineers Pooja Ghanate and Shubangi Mahale accompanied by RVNL consultant M N Naik arrived at the village at 10 am to demarcate the area.
While the officials were to survey the area in the morning, red flags were to be posted to demarcate the area proposed to be acquired in the evening.
However, soon after they arrived locals got to know about the exercise and many women marched to the railway station to confront the officials. The ladies demanded that the demarcation should be done in the presence of the villagers and wanted a larger crowd to be present.
Sarpanch Perris D’Costa who earlier claimed to have no knowledge about the railway officials visiting the village rushed to the site on getting the news and the people demanded that all the panchayat members should also be present for the demarcation.
Left with no alternative the RVNL team left the village before noon after the Sarpanch told them that he would fix a date and accordingly inform them to demarcate the area.
