Tension rise at Velsao wherein the railway authorities, backed by heavy machinery and a police presence, have begun double-tracking work without presenting proper land documentation. This escalation, occurring Tuesday, November 12, 2024, has drawn villagers and local panchayat body to protest at the site. They question why authorities have not provided documents that establish land ownership boundaries, pointing out that officials from the Directorate of Settlement and Land Records (DSLR) have arrived with only measuring tapes rather than detailed plans.
Local residents fear that without clear documentation, their homes may face demolition. Mollo villagers, another community affected, are outraged at those they accuse of politicizing the issue without understanding it firsthand. They note that these individuals did not intervene when railway authorities previously claimed ownership over land already occupied by villagers’ homes. It was the residents themselves who invited South Goa MP Captain Viriato Fernandes to visit the site last week in a bid to protect their homes.
As tensions rise, the Deputy Collector has arrived on-site with a police squad to mediate between the villagers and railway officials. This double-tracking project is part of the Special Railway Project: the Hospet-Hubli-Tinaighat-Vasco-da-Gama doubling initiative in Goa.
Should the railway proceed with its plans today, 23 residents of survey no.18/1 in Pale Village stand to lose their land to the project. The names of the affected villagers are as follows:
1 Smt. Claudina Ritina Aguiar
2 Chico de Souza
3 Valente Goes
4 Menino Goes
5 Antonio Moniz 6 Filipe Dias
7 Eduardo Goes
8 Menino Goes
9 Valente Goes
10 Vicente Goes
11 Alberto Rodrigues
Alex Rodrigues 13 Andreza Goes
14 Jose Filipe Goes
15 Eduardo Jacinto Goes
16 Antonetta Aguiar
17. Francisco Xavier Goes
18 Jacinto Goes
19 Caitana Francisco Dias
20 Felicidade Costa
21 Artinesto Goes
22 Esparanca Goes
23 Sebastiao Francisco Fernandes
Velsao Sarpanch Diana Gouveia and Goencho Ekvott (GE) founder Orville Dourado Rodrigues reiterated their demand for Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) to comply fully with the South Goa District Collector's directive, which bars any work at Mollo (Survey No. 18/1) until the unresolved land dispute between local landowners and the South Western Railways (SWR) is settled.
To provide context, RVNL is representing SWR at the site, while Sarpanch Gouveia has been advocating on behalf of the local community to the authorities, who have refused to move away from the site. Although there is a temporary impasse, the threat to local residents' homes remains significant.
"GM RVNL Sahoo flatly refused to stop the work and bluntly stated that we, the villagers, could act as we wished while they would proceed as they pleased—this was a blatant defiance of the Collector's order," Rodrigues alleged. "Meanwhile, the junior land surveyor from the Mamlatdar's office, equipped with a survey plan from 1986 and a 30-meter measuring tape, appeared to be going out of his way to accommodate RVNL's directives," he added.
"I questioned the surveyor why he was not equipped with the Total Station to conduct the survey and why he had come only with a 30m tape measure. Why he did not have the latest plan post-1990," said Rodrigues while speaking to the media about the issues locals had with the absence of proper surveying equipment by the government officials.
"The surveyor had no answer to our queries", Rodrigues added.
The railways have maintained, in their conversations with the locals and the government authorities that they own the land and can proceed.
"We ensured that RVNL ceased all construction activities in survey no. 18/1, Mollo, Pale village. The next date for conducting the demarcation has been verbally agreed by all parties for coming Monday at 10:00 am (18/11/2024), subject to receipt of official notice by the Deputy Collector," said the group of locals, panchayat and GE at the end of Tuesday's confrontation with the railways.