Team Herald
MARGAO: The quiet coastal hamlet of Mollo, Pale Village, primarily inhabited by fishermen and toddy tappers, was thrust into chaos on Tuesday as RVNL (Rail Vikas Nigam Limited) contractors began excavation work in Survey No. 18/1 on Tuesday morning without any written notice to the local residents, who were extremely anxious over this decision. These locals, many of whom had filed a collective petition to the High Court for relief, protested the sudden move, expressing anger over the lack of procedural adherence and the unexpected displacement from their homes.
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Members of the local NGO Goencho Ekvott (GE), led by founder Orville Dourado Rodrigues and Joint Secretary Olencio Simoes, joined the villagers in demanding an immediate halt to the work. The protest led to a temporary standoff, with RVNL workers pausing activities to await instructions from higher authorities. GE along with the affected residents waited patiently for over two hours for the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) employees to arrive on the scene despite being verbally threatened by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel.
Rodrigues questioned the validity of the land transfer, arguing that the State Revenue Department had bypassed essential steps such as issuing public notices and conducting a physical survey with the Directorate of Settlement and Land Records (DSLR). These points were raised as a rebuttal to counter the arguments that were being put forward by the RVNL’s senior employees who claimed that they already had the land award certificate and were deemed to be in possession of the land. Simoes pressed the RVNL employees to explain why notices were not issued to local landowners and why the mutation process was not completed, even as they claimed to possess a ‘Certificate of Possession’ from the South Western Railways (SWR). It is to be noted that RVNL is carrying out the double tracking work in Goa on behalf of SWR.
Thereafter, South Goa Lok Sabha MP Captain Viriato Fernandes arrived at the site, and directly challenged the senior RVNL employees on various aspects of the land acquisition process. Unsatisfied with their responses, the MP escalated the issue to RVNL General Manager (GM) Sashibhushan Sahoo, and the duo had a lengthy discussion over the local’s arguments that due process was not followed.
Finally, RVNL agreed to temporarily halt all construction activities at the site until a meeting was scheduled with the affected villagers. The MP then immediately conveyed the villagers’ concerns to Egna Cleetus, the newly-appointed South Goa District Collector, who agreed to convene a meeting with the affected residents, SWR, and RVNL on November 6, to address the issue. The MP, Velsao Sarpanch Diana Maria Gouveia, and the GE founder are expected to be present for this meeting.
It is to be noted that Mollo is in the jurisdiction of the village panchayat of Velsao-Pale-Issorcim. Present at the site were Velsao Sarpanch Diana Maria Gouveia, local panch Francisco Braganza, and Goenche Ramponkarancho Ekvott President Agnelo Rodrigues. The small hamlet, with roughly 30-40 homes, currently faces displacement of seven affected landowners. Affected local Peter Fernandes lamented that his extended family had subsisted on his kitchen garden patch, the mango, the avocado, and the coconut palms, which will be lost forever if he loses his inherited land to double tracking. Another local, Joanita Aguiar, wondered whether the government has considered that they will forever lose their Bhatti (distillery) which was used to distil local coconut feni and on which the family had subsisted for generations. These locals, along with the landlord of the land in the adjoining property, Ashok Souza, filed a case against the land acquisition process in the HC. They had also filed their objections with the authorities handling the land acquisition.
