Team Herald
MARGAO: Following a persistent demand by the locals, officials of Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd agreed to suspend all ongoing work for double tracking the South Western Railway line at Guirdolim till a joint meeting is held with the panchayat members, villagers and MLAs.
The villagers were agitated that the authorities had practically buried Guirdolim River in order to carry on the double tracking work and refused to accept the railway authorities’ assurances that the mud would be excavated and river restored once the work is over.
Earlier in the morning, the villagers inspected the work undertaken and were shocked to note that a long stretch of Guirdolim River was buried with mud. Incensed with this, they stopped the work immediately following which the Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd officials agreed to come with their plans for a discussion in the evening.
The railway authorities showed their plan which had a construction of a retaining wall following which there would be a channel and then a road meant for the benefit of the people.
“How can you fit a river into a channel?” asked Zarina D’Cunha while the Guirdolim Sarpanch Janety Silveira asserted that the people did not need the road.
John Sirsi, who is a consultant, appointed by Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd, pointed out that the railways have to work as per the Indian Railways Act on the land already acquired by the Railways and this led to a big round of discussion with the villagers demanding proof of the land acquisition.
Former Guirdolim sarpanch and presently chairman of the Guirdolim Biodiversity Management Committee Agostinho Antao while pointing out that Form I & XIV is not proof of ownership of land as upheld even by the Supreme Court alleged that the Railways have taken NOC from the wrong persons, who are not the actual owners of the land.
However, a major row erupted when a Junior Engineer of Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd Palla said, “There was no river existing at that place but it was only backwaters of a river.
The villagers asserted that they had grown up playing in the river.
The villagers also accused the railways of cutting a hillock in the village to get mud that was used to fill up the land and the river. However, the Railway authorities said the mud used was brought from Kalay where the railway hillock was cut.
The villagers were aghast to see the mangroves destroyed while some coconut trees and other trees were also cut and the Railway authorities said they had got permission from the Forest Department for the tree cutting.
After much discussion the Railway officials agreed to meet the panchayat members, some villagers and even MLAs if possible on Saturday morning and agreed to stop the ongoing work till this meeting takes place.
“We cannot take a call on stopping the work as that has to be decided by the higher ups,” pointed out John who also pointed out that the State government has given them permission to go ahead with the work and asked the people to impress upon their local government to stop the work and that is when it was decided to call the local MLA Clafacio Dias and Water Resources Minister Philip Neri Rodrigues for the meeting.
Sarpanch of Guirdolim along with the deputy sarpanch and some panchayat members and former sarpanchas of Chandor Cavorim and panchas were present for the site inspection, besides the sarpanchas of Loutolim and Sarzora.
