Team Herald
MARGAO: In a landmark decision, the Velsao-Pale-Issorcim Village Panchayat gram sabha (GS) passed a resolution that the panchayat should approach the Supreme Court (SC) against the railway double tracking project after two pending petitions before the Bombay High Court at Goa are heard.
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Earlier, at the gram sabha, three queries filed by social activist Roquezinho D’Souza were taken up. The first one was whether the panchayat would seek recourse to the Apex Court regarding the railway issue.
Sarpanch Maria Diana Gouveia replied stating that since the gram sabha had previously recommended the panchayat to approach the High Court, the gram sabha should again decide whether to approach the SC or not. Goencho Ekvott (GE) founder Orville Dourado Rodrigues then started a debate by responding to the accusations that had been made by a member of gram sabha that GE was misleading the public.
In tandem with panchayat’s Village Development Committee (VDC) Chairman Max De Souza, they explained in detail about the proposed railway expansion plans and how the NGOs were legally countering the Railways since 2018.
Further, Max exposed the lies by an employee of a Railway sub-contractor that Saturday’s inspection in the village was the first time that someone had objected to the railway double tracking through the village.
Max recalled that along with the Village Action Group Against Double Tracking (VACAD), they had several rounds of meetings with even the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and the Railway Board officials.
Following this, he pointed out that the Chief Minister and then Environment Minister Nilesh Cabral had even walked along the existing tracks, in the company of GE members and then local MLA Alina Saldanha.
One GS member then recommended that the panchayat should first resolve the legal court cases in various courts and thereafter decide whether to approach the SC as that would require huge funding.
On that note, Max asked the GS to first decide about their commitment to approach the SC. The villagers gathered at the meeting replied in the affirmative that they should seek justice from the SC.
However, there was a heated discussion over the funding for the case, wherein Max informed the gram sabha that an NGO will pitch in with the funding for the same.
Rodrigues also informed the GS about the huge response from the villagers to oppose double tracking and seek recourse to the SC after the two pending petitions filed by the villagers before the HC were heard. This was agreed upon by a show of hands and a thunderous applause, with no seen objection.
The other major issue was about the pathetic state of the Lazaro Souza playground. Here, Roquezinho informed that he would use the good offices of the local MLA Anton Vas to carry out the improvement works for the same.
Rodrigues suggested that local youth should be allowed to have priority for the use of the playground, which was accepted by the GS.
Speaking to the mediapersons post gram sabha, the Sarpanch said all the villagers should come together to oppose the railway double-tracking project.
Rodrigues also criticised the employee of a Railway sub-contractor for misleading the MLA by talking of decisions that the said employee couldn’t take and that neither the Railway Board members could take such decisions. He called it an insult to the public of Cortalim Constituency.
