Team Herald
MARGAO: Goencho Ekvott (GE) and Goenche Ramponkarancho Ekvott (GRE) have filed a public interest litigation (PIL) writ petition in the High Court against the Railway’s double-tracking project in Goa. The petitioners have laid bare all the ways in which the environment and areas surrounding the railway tracks have been damaged, especially the creek in Mollo located in Pale village.
According to GE founder Orville Dourado Rodrigues, “Velsao-Pale is in immediate danger of flooding this monsoon unless the hundreds of truckloads that have been dumped in the stormwater drains and the main tributary of the River Sal by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) is removed forthwith, and the land is restored back to its original condition on a war footing.”
The petitioners have also provided details of all their appeals to the authorities, including stop-work orders sent by the likes of the Water Resources Department and Velsao village panchayat, which failed to have any effect as the Railways continued their expansion work.
GE and GRE have asked the HC to direct South Western Railway (SWR) and RVNL to stop all mud filling, construction, pre-construction, and/or development activities of any nature around the creek and to also restore the culvert, stormwater drainage, and the creek to its original condition.
