Team Herald
MARGAO: Ahead of the hearing before the Directorate of Settlement and Land Records (DSLR) on Monday, January 6, locals from Mollo, Pale-Velsao, where ongoing double tracking works have caused upheaval and heartache, have questioned the timing of the hearing as it coincides with Three Kings Feast.
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It may be recalled that since the end of November and even in the first week of January, there have been numerous clashes between the railway workers and the local residents over the scope of work and demarcation exercise.
While the government had carried out a demarcation exercise between December 20 and 21st, there were allegations by the local residents that the markers placed by the State government were moved by the railway workers.
After that, there was an issue of a toilet block, a shed, water pipeline and an age-old distillery being demolished by the railways even though the remaining formalities of the demarcation were yet to be completed and verbal instructions had been given to the railway officials to wait until the December 6 hearing.
These locals stuck to their stance after Railway officials tried to deny these charges and pointed to the continuous harassment they have been facing since the railway works began, another charge the railways tried to deny.
The latest issue has now become the date for the DSLR hearing with a majority of the locals conveying their objections to the date given that the feast is of great importance to the community, who participate in the feast in big numbers.
“Happy New Year 2025 it was supposed to be for the villagers of Mollo, Pale village. But a heartless SWR/RVNL abetted by the local authorities ensured that age old structures some of which were their only source of sustenance were destroyed in full public view despite a scheduled hearing on January 6, 2025 at the Court of DSLR , which also has been cherry picked to ensure non-participation of the affected locals, being the feast of the Magi (Three Kings) where thousands converge at the hillock of Our Lady of Remedios, Cuelim,” said Orville Dourado Rodrigues, Founder of Goencho Ekvott (GE).
