MONDAY, MAY 20, 2024
Team Herald
MARGAO: The locals of Velsao village who were protesting against the double tracking work in their village, on Friday succeeded in stopping the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) officials from dumping mud on land, which is also the traditional Right of Way for the residences situated by the track.
It may be recalled that on Thursday, the locals were unable to prevent the said work despite having a stay order from the Directorate of Settlement & Land Records (DSLR).
On Friday morning, the group of villagers led by Goencho Ekvott (GE) founder Orville Dourado Rodrigues, former Cortalim MLA and ex-Minister Alina Saldanha, Velsao-Pale- Issorcim Sarpanch Diana M Gouveia, and other panchas questioned the RVNL workers engaged in what the locals described was alleged illegal construction activities of double tracking in the traditional Right of Way (ROW) at Primeirovaddo, Velsao.
After intense discussions with the site supervisor who was handed over a copy of the letter issued by DSLR, the heavy earth moving machinery, trucks laden with mud/construction debris, compactors and water tankers were evicted from the site, but not before a tough stance by the villagers whose strength had begun to grow as the morning progressed.
Later the villager’s submitted a memorandum to the Velsao village panchayat objecting to the works carried out in private land by RVNL.
The local panchayat then issued a letter to the South Goa District Collector stating the ground reality with a request to issue a stop-work order to South Western Railway (SWR)/RVNL at Velsao until the land ownership is settled.
Later in the day the panchayat and villagers met with the South Goa Collector Ashwin C, who gave them a patient hearing whereby the aggrieved villagers put across their grievances to him.
While the locals were elated that they managed to get a temporary solution, GE issued a statement to the media on Friday evening, in which he said that the double tracking work was taking place not just in Velsao, but also the other parts of Mormugao taluka.
Here, they referred to the DSLR order dated May 25 2023, for the creation of Record of Rights, based on which the Inspector of Survey & Land Records (ISLR) was supposed to conduct surveys of all revenue villages.
They pointed out that the order had clear instructions that culverts, bridges and creeks were to be excluded and that Inspector of Survey & Land Records (ISLR) Margao was to place Form 3 and Survey Plan for review/objections of/by the public for 15 days and upon hearing the objectors, if any, pass appropriate order.
Consequently, ISLR Margao issued a notice in the local newspaper March 23 2024 calling upon all persons having interest in the land along the existing SWR tracks to inspect the draft index of land kept open for inspection at the ISLR office, office of the superintendent of records of Salcete, Mormugao's Mamlatdar's office and the village panchayats of Arrosim, Cansaulim, Dabolim, Chicalim, Issorcim, Pale and Velsao in Mormugao Taluka and Calata, Chandor, Davorlim, Duncolim, Majorda, Seraulim, Sao Jose de Areal, & Utorda villages in Salcete Taluka and submit in writing within 30 days of publication of the above mentioned notice their objection if any towards the entry made in the said draft with documentary evidence.
“It may be noted that the draft was not made available to any of the above mentioned panchayats in Mormugao and Salcete talukas for public scrutiny, thus denying this basic right to the local community, most of whom are senior citizens and unable to travel long distances,” said Rodrigues
“On the contrary, during the notice period RVNL has commenced works in the disputed areas of Mormugao,” Creson Antao, GE Chairman, said.
“The very fact that the process has started to create the record of rights, clearly indicates that South Western Railway (SWR) has no Title documents to the disputed land and hence all construction activities in the disputed land which is the Right Of Way of the local community is to be deemed as illegal and has to stop for with, and is subject to legal action by land owners for criminal trespass,” Antao said.
