Team Herald
VASCO: The villagers of Velsao Pale under the banner of Goencho Ekvott (GE) on Monday drove away the officials the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) while they had gone to carry out the work of laying railway double tracking.
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Goencho Ekvott founder Orville Dourado said the RVNL senior officials had arrived at Velsao village and had allegedly trespassed into private properties. He said the incident took place when the villagers were in celebrating 75th Independence Day and also the feast of Our Lady of Assumption.
But the villagers along with the Goencho Ekvott members stopped the officials and chased them away; Dourado said the villagers will not tolerate such provocative actions by RVNL.
Dourado said the Velsao villagers have vowed to protect their ancestral land against transportation of coal through their village and all along the coastal belt and towards the hinterland in the east of Goa.
Dourado said the recent panchayat election results have shown how the Velsao Pale Issorcim villagers have vented their anger against coal transportation through the ballot and elected members backed by the Goencho Ekvott and its allied organisations in many village panchayats.
Dourado alleged that the insensitive administration was pushing forward destructive projects through one of the most picturesque areas of the State.
, where the local economy is heavily dependent on tourism, farming and fishing which he feared would cease to exist is the railway double tracking is allowed.
