Team Herald
MARGAO: Residents of the Mollo ward of Pale-Velsao on Tuesday faced off against railway authorities, who had come prepared to carry out work near the tracks despite a pending government-mandated demarcation survey that is supposed to mark out private property from railway land.
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Tensions stayed high all day till the Deputy Collector agreed to suspend further activity until railway officials provide proper documentation proving their land ownership in the disputed Survey No. 18/1.
The conflict began on Monday night when railway workers started dumping mud near residents’ homes, adjacentw to a newly-built retaining wall.
The residents were shocked to see the railway authorities pressing ahead on Tuesday morning. Equipped with heavy machinery and backed by railway police, the railway officials refused to halt operations, escalating tensions.
The residents, supported by Velsao Panchayat, Village Development Committee (VDC) members, and Goencho Ekvott (GE), asserted that the Railways lacked necessary land ownership documents.
Things came to a head when a junior official from the Mormugao Mamlatdar office arrived to conduct the land inspection carrying outdated plans and only a measuring tape.
Locals had expected senior officials from the Directorate of Settlement and Land Records (DSLR) carrying proper surveying equipment to oversee the process.
Velsao sarpanch Diana Gouveia emphasised that the villagers would resist any attempts by the railways to encroach on their land, expressing concern that people’s homes might get damaged.
The Deputy Collector’s intervention defused the situation, but local anger stemmed from the Railway’s defiance of a recent directive by the District Collector, which prohibited any work in the area until the demarcation process for Survey No. 18/1 was completed.
The outdated land survey plan presented by the junior official was swiftly rejected by locals and panchayat members, who argued it did not accurately reflect their land ownership. Velsao VDC chairperson Max De Souza highlighted this discrepancy, noting that the Railway’s reliance on an outdated 1986 plan was invalid since the broad-gauge line was established in 1990, and there was a new survey plan made in the year 1990, which was more accurate and was the plan that ought to have been brought for the inspection.
The dispute escalated when the Railway representatives asked locals to produce the updated survey plan. De Souza countered, stating it was the Railway’s responsibility to provide current documentation, given they had laid the broad-gauge track and were the ones carrying out the track expansion work at present. Without proper documents or suitable equipment, the Railways was in no position to proceed, he argued.
To add to the simmering tension, Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) General Manager (GM) publicly dismissed the villagers’ concerns and refused to halt the work, even going on to dare the locals to do what they wanted.
According to GE founder Orville Dourado Rodrigues, the GM’s stance directly defied the District Collector’s directive and was taken as a threat by the locals who had gathered at the site. Rodrigues further criticised the government’s handling of the inspection, emphasising the lack of modern equipment, such as a total station, and reliance on outdated maps and basic tools.
Rodrigues accused the junior official carrying out the survey of trying to “bend backwards to the RVNL’s instructions instead of giving a fair hearing and chance to the locals or even seeking their say regarding land ownership”.
He questioned what the State government was doing given the bullish attitude of the railway authorities who were treating the locals with disdain and only stopped when the locals had gathered in large numbers.
A tentative date for a new demarcation survey has been set for Monday, November 18, pending prior official confirmation from the Deputy Collector.
