Railway con struction has resumed on disputed land at Velsao despite repeated adminis trative interventions and unresolved questions over land ownership, acquisi tion and access, with heavy machinery deployed under police protection to build a motorable road alongside private properties. The renewed work by South Western Railway (SWR), through Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) and its subcontractor Surya Construction, comes even as official correspondence records complaints that the land has not been acquired and that the Railways’ title to the disputed stretch is not reflected in the relevant land records.
The fresh activity has renewed con cerns among residents over the use of their land for the railway project before acquisition have begun. A visit to the site revealed construction activity along the stretch, with an excavator deployed and a concrete pathway being laid. Locals allege that the contractors have proceed ed with the work despite the absence of land acqui sition, notices to affected owners or their no-ob jection certificates. They have also questioned why construction is continuing while the land records and the proposed right of way remain unresolved. Goencho Ekvott (GE) founder member Orville Dourado Rodrigues said the land acquisition pro cess had not even started and that no landowners had received notices. He said the Inspector of Survey and Land Records (ISLR) was supposed to survey the area, but no such exercise had taken place. The construction in cludes an approximately 3-metre-wide motorable road alongside a heritage house built before the ad vent of the railways in Vel sao in the 1890s. Rodrigues alleged that the road was being built on privately owned land without acqui sition or the landowners’ approval.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
The impact, he said, ex tended beyond the con struction site. Residents, many of them senior cit izens, were traumatised and unable to venture out as portions of their private gardens, forming part of their properties, had been taken over under police protection. Rodrigues alleged that the land was being used for the benefit of the railway project without compensation to the owners. Several coconut palms and teakwood trees have also been cut and carted away, leaving no trace of what was once orchard land. An old Holy Cross has been uprooted from its original location on private property. Rodrigues accused the Government of conniving with the Railways to usurp land be longing to local residents.
He said the authorities were allowing the contractors to pro ceed unilaterally, disregarding the local administration and pending land and title pro ceedings. The concerns are also reflected in official correspondence. In a letter dated May 20, 2026, the Mamlatdar of Mormugao Taluka, referring to a complaint by Joseph Carvalho and other Velsao residents, informed the Deputy Collector and Sub-Divisional Officer that a Talathi inquiry had found only one access road available to residents to reach their homes, either on foot or by vehicle. The letter recorded that RVNL was constructing the railway double track along this stretch and claiming that the land belonged to it. However, the complainants had stated that the land had not been acquired and that RVNL’s name did not appear in the Form I and XIV records.
The letter further stated that verification of the land records showed that the Railways did not have title to the land alongside the existing railway line. The residents had warned that construction of the double track could leave their hous es landlocked, without vehicular access in an emergency, including for an ambulance or fire brigade. They had sought an alternative right of way. The Mamlatdar forwarded the Talathi’s detailed report and site photographs and requested a meeting between RVNL officials and the complainants for appropriate action under the law. The dispute resurfaced in August, prompting the Deputy Collector and Sub-Divisional Officer to write to RVNL on August 13, 2026, seeking urgent intervention to stop what the letter described as illegal construction by SWR, RVNL and Surya Construction at Vel sao. The communication referred to a complaint dated August 7 from affected villagers, through Goencho Ekvott, alleging construction on private land without lawful title or land acquisition. The Deputy Collector asked that any railway work take into account the lawful rights of residents and landowners and comply with the Land Acquisition Act.
The letter also sought action to protect the rights of the affected villagers. Despite these administrative interventions, Rodrigues said, the contractors had re sumed work. The immediate access issue had earlier been taken up with the South Goa Collector after construction material blocked the passage serving around 20 to 25 homes. The material was subsequently removed and access restored, but the larger dis pute over land ownership, acquisition and the right of way remains unresolved. The affected residents have sought that the pending survey be conducted and the land and access issues settled before further work proceeds. The central concern is that the railway project should not leave existing homes without a motorable route, particularly one that can be used by emergency vehicles.
