Team Herald
MARGAO: The Seraulim gram sabha questioned the Railways’ plans in the village and asked the panchayat to get all the relevant information which the panchayat agreed to do and also demanded the panchayat to take action against the illegal construction along Colva road.
The villagers pointed out that the Railways had given an incomplete map which was displayed in the panchayat office that showed only half of the village while Duncolim was kept out of the map and further demanded to know whether there would be eight railway tracks in the village.
The panchayat disclosed that the Collector had assured that there would be only two tracks and pointed out that some villagers were present for the meeting. However, the villagers demanded that the Collector’s statement be taken in writing instead of relying on verbal assurances and hence asked the panchayat to seek the information in writing.
The villagers demanded to know the status of the rail under pass which is pending because the State government has not sanctioned its share of Rs 3.5 crore for its construction even as the panchayat announced that the construction of the approach roads is tendered.
It was also disclosed that the Railways wanted the level crossing to be closed permanently before starting the work of the underpass and the villagers objecting to it asked the panchayat to seek correct information in writing from the railway authorities.
A villager Vincent Fernandes asked the panchayat to check whether the Railways were planning to electrify the railway line as he had seen some engineers conducting a survey and he further pointed out that the Railways are placing boundary stones beyond the land that originally belonged to the authority.
“In my property there is stone put up by the erstwhile West Indian Portuguese Railway and later on the South Central Railways put up another stone nearly two metres away thus taking over excess land that actually belongs to me,” he said while asking the panchayat to check about the second stone.
A villager Cyrilo Vales argued that the underpass work should be taken up on priority as it was for public purpose instead of taking up works that help only one person and said the works in Benaulim constituency be stopped to divert the funds for the railway underpass.
He also demanded an enquiry into the Water Resources Department claim that the lakes in Seraulim were closed in March and insisted that the lakes were never closed by the authorities. “Lakhs of rupees have been paid to some contractor who did no work in the village and that needs to be investigated and action be taken against the guilty,” he said.
The panchayat informed the villagers that they were constructing a shed to store the dry waste collected from households and roadside and further informed that the fees of the garbage collector have been increased from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000.
Responding to a query about the construction debris dumped in the village, the panchayat informed that the PWD is supposed to ask the contractor to shift it to a site identified by the panchayat and said it would be done within three months.
The panchayat also disclosed that they are ready to move the Court to stop the work on the Western Bypass as and when it starts as presently the work has stopped due to the united efforts of the villagers and even the Benaulim panchayat has agreed to join them in the demand to have a flyover in the village.
The panchayat assured the villagers that it will act on the illegal construction that has come up without keeping the necessary set back on the Margao-Colva road following some discussion on the matter with the panchayat agreeing that the four shops constructed are illegal.
