MARGAO: Goencho Ekvott (GE) has joined the chorus, raising safety concerns about the recent energisation of the 25,000 volt Hz AC overhead traction wires of the Majorda-Vasco-MPT section of the South Western Railway (SWR) route.
The electrification of this route has caused alarm, given that the local residents, as well young students, still cross the railway tracks to get to the other as that is a quicker route for pedestrians. The residents feared that they will be harmed if the electrification work continues this way.
“Till date none of the local panchayats have been officially notified about the electrical energisation of the railway route. Have the Railways considered the safety of the public, who run the risk of electrocution and undesired fatalities, while crossing the ‘live’ railway tracks?” questioned GE Founder, Orville Dourado Rodrigues.
“Will section 147(1) of the Railways Act 1989 be applicable to the ‘would-be trespassers’ subjecting them to up to 6 months imprisonment along with fines for allowing the railways through their inherited lands?” Rodrigues asked.
“Considering that our people, mostly senior citizens and students cross the existing single tracks to reach the other side and despite the fact that we have co-existed with the Railways for over 130 years, neither the Railways nor the local government ever thought of building suitable infrastructure for the convenience of the public either as overhead walkways/flyovers or subways to enable pedestrians as well as vehicles to safely cross the railway tracks,” Rodrigues added.
“It is a pathetic sight to notice that especially senior citizens and students are forced to risk their lives when they crawl under temporarily parked
railway wagons usually filled with hazardous raw material like coal and coke just opposite the Cansaulim Railway Station,” he added. Rodrigues lamented that there has been little action on the ground to alleviate the humiliation that our people are subjected to by the authorities.
He pointed out the irony that the only interest of the Railway Board appears to be to build a rail corridor for coal transportation through Goa despite the devastation it would cause. Rodrigues also called all the MLAs along the SWR route along with the other authorities concerned to address this issue.
