Goencho Ekvott slams government for stance on three linear projects

MARGAO: Welcoming the decision of the Supreme Court to cancel the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) clearance that had been granted for the eco-sensitive stretch of the double tracking project, Goencho Ekvott (GE) slammed the State government for its stance on the three linear projects. 

At a media briefing on Tuesday, GE said the SC decision vindicates their long struggle against these projects and listed how they had come together for protests, awareness campaigns and legal battles, to prevent the double tracking project from going forward.

GE Founder Orville Dourado Rodrigues admitted that they are not entirely in celebratory mode and added that the SC judgment is a big step in their collective campaign against the double tracking project. He also paid tribute to the late Julio Cedric Aguiar, who was spearheading the campaign against the three linear projects, while Captain Viriato Fernandes said Aguiar had given his life for the cause.  

Other activists and GE members also came down heavily on Transport and Panchayat Minister Mauvin Godinho for trying to belittle the SC verdict.

Responding to Godinho’s jibe that the SC matter and subsequent appeal will only see prolonged litigation and escalation of costs, Fernandes referred to Godinho’s power rebate scam case that was heard at the SC and is still being heard at the lower courts and questioned the Minister’s silence in this matter.

Xencor Polgi said the SC judgment proved that it required the courts to tell the government it is wrong and accused Godinho and the other ministers of trying to push forward a sinister plan that aims at converting Goa into a coal hub.

While reiterating that they have the right to celebrate, Olencio Simoes pointed out that the Sagarmala project and Mormugao Port Authority (MPA) want the double tracking project in order to transport 130-odd tonnes of coal received from countries like Australia, Mozambique and Indonesia to steel plants in neighbouring Karnataka.

Simoes pointed out that Mormugao taluka is already suffering from coal currently being transported and if Goa becomes a coal hub where the volume of coal being transported increases by over 100 tonnes, the entire State will suffer.

Polgi questioned why such a coal storage facility is not set up in Karnataka and wondered how the people of Karnataka would react to the pollution caused by coal.

GE also demanded that Union Minister of State (MoS) for Ports, Shripad Naik, stop behaving as a rubber stamp and ask the Union Ports Minister to see that the Karnataka ports are used for such transport of coal instead of Goa.

Fernandes and Rodrigues recalled how the people of Goa, including the youth, fought the government which was trying to rush ahead with this project during the Covid pandemic and how they remain committed to the cause. 

They also referred to the personal sacrifices the activists had to endure in this fight and criticised the government for trying to impose such anti-people projects on the people. Rodrigues added that the activists are united in this fight irrespective of their political affiliations.

GE hopes destruction of homes near tracks will stop 

In view of the Supreme Court verdict on the double-tracking project, Goencho Ekvott activists are hoping it will help stop the destruction of homes near the tracks, including ancestral heritage homes.

Addressing media persons, they pointed out how the coastal area where the tracks pass through has been destroyed and questioned who benefits from the three linear projects that will lead to the devastation of Goa, the people and the environment.

Ella Mascarenhas, who lives in one such house by the tracks, lamented how the farms and fields owned by local residents have been damaged, how coconut trees have been ruined and how the groundwater has been contaminated by coal pollution.

She expressed her dismay on behalf of the residents, whose right of passage from their house to the rest of the village or even their own fields, have been blocked by the railway tracks. She also described how the quality of life of such residents has been spoiled due to the constant passing of the trains that have affected the structure of the houses and their livelihoods as well. 

Olencio Simoes gave the example of how people have suffered injuries or lost their lives when crossing such tracks.

Given that the South Western Railway (SWR) has initiated land acquisition proceedings of houses along the railway tracks, Captain Viriato Fernandes said that GE would continue to provide support to the families who have raised legal objections to such land acquisition.

GE urged the State government and Railway authorities to stop such land acquisition proceedings as well as work on laying of the double track in view of the SC verdict. GE also called on the authorities to drop the FIRs that had been filed against those persons who had protested on the railway tracks in Chandor given that that case is currently being heard.

Further, GE referred to the SC decision allowing the railways to reapply subject to an environment impact study being done and questioned if any such study had been done in the first place when they sought the clearance from the National Board of Wildlife.

Mascarenhas also criticised the government for trying to destroy the UNESCO world heritage sites, the protected forests passing through Mollem by pushing ahead such projects.