Team Herald
MARGAO: The Amid renewed political attention and a recent site inspection, the long-pending flyover projects at Davorlim and Nessai railway crossings in Salcete continue to remain mired in land acquisition hurdles, with little sign of actual progress on the ground.
The inspection of the Davorlim railway crossing by Rajya Sabha MP Sadanand Tanavade, accompanied by Navelim MLA Ulhas Tuenkar and Davorlim Sarpanch Saiesh Rajadyax, once again threw a spotlight on the decade-old project that has seen foundation stones laid, promises made, but no real movement since.
While Tanavade assured that he would press the State government to expedite land acquisition, officials and residents alike are sceptical, given the history of stalled efforts under successive administrations.
The Davorlim flyover was first proposed nearly a decade ago, when then Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu laid the foundation stone during the tenure of a previous BJP-led government in Goa and Delhi. Yet, despite initial momentum, the project ground to a halt after it became clear that the Goa government had not acquired the required land for the approaches to the flyover. Konkan Railway officials had confirmed even then that funding was not the issue — rather, it was the failure to secure land that derailed the plan.
The current push by Tanavade and local BJP leaders comes against this backdrop of inaction. Speaking after the recent inspection, the Rajya Sabha MP acknowledged that the construction would not be possible without the Goa government taking proactive steps to acquire land on both sides of the crossing. For residents of Davorlim, where the crossing shuts for traffic over 80 times a day due to train movements, the flyover remains an urgent necessity, but also a symbol of broken promises.
Meanwhile, the neighboring village of Sao Jose de Areal faces a similar predicament at the Nessai railway crossing. Almost five years after the Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) rushed through the double tracking work at Nessai under police protection, assurances of a corresponding flyover have yet to materialize. Although a foundation stone for the Nessai flyover was laid over a year ago, construction has not commenced, leaving locals increasingly frustrated.
Confusion over jurisdiction has added to delays at Nessai, with RVNL recently clarifying that the responsibility for building the flyover rests with a division of the South Western Railway, not with RVNL itself. This bureaucratic buck-passing has done little to reassure residents, who feel betrayed after years of assurances.
Velim MLA Cruz Silva, voicing the concerns of the Areal villagers, questioned the government’s priorities. He pointed out that while authorities have been pushing forward with plans to develop a new railway station at Sao Jose de Areal, they have failed to deliver on the more basic promise of a flyover at the Nessai crossing to mitigate traffic woes. Silva demanded that the government treat the Davorlim and Nessai flyovers with equal urgency, especially given the increased train frequency that has made waiting at crossings a daily ordeal.
As Salcete’s villagers wait for action rather than yet another round of inspections and speeches, the stalled flyover projects at Davorlim and Nessai stand as reminders that political attention alone is no guarantee of development unless backed by administrative resolve and swift land acquisition.