Margao: The South Western Railways (SWR) has claimed that the figure of 2,800 objections that have been raised to the double-tracking work from Kalem to Vasco by SWR is “misleading”.
In response to a full-page Herald in-depth reportage on a large number of objections that the Competent Authority, the SDO and Deputy Collector Mormugao has to deal with, SWR stated that 65 of the 2,875 objections have come from interested parties. It further stated “that it is a government organization with the highest respect and regards for the concerns of the Goan people”
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While the box with this story clearly explains that even if we take the interested party argument, the total number of people who have objected is well above 50%.
Meanwhile, interestingly the Deputy Collector Mormugao who is the Competent Authority told Herald last week, “I have sent a full report on the objections to the Government. I will have to hear them and decide. Till date I have not cleared any of the lands for acquisition”. He further informed that 2,800 odd objections have been received, many of them by email and he had to “deal with them”.
The Competent Authority made mention of interested and non-interested parties. And he is the Authority. The Railways in this case is not the authority to decide or imagine who the interested parties are.
