Stepping up their long-standing resist ance against double-track ing, Velsao villagers have called a massive public protest on Monday morn ing, appealing to residents of neighbouring villages and activists across Goa to unite against ongoing railway works that have allegedly cut off motorable access to ancestral herit age homes. The protest will begin at 10 am at Velsao, near the railway crossing. The or ganisers have called on the residents of Velsao, Pale, Cansaulim, Issorcim and Arossim, besides people from across Goa, to partic ipate.
The mobilisation follows a signature campaign by affected residents and sup porters, with many people signing a complaint submit ted to the State government and senior officials seeking urgent intervention against works being carried out by South Western Railway (SWR), Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) and its subcontractor Surya Con struction. The complaint has been addressed to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Chief Sec retary, Director General of Police (DGP) Alok Kumar, South Goa Collector Egna Cleetus, Deputy Collector/ SDO Mormugao Pratap rao Gaunkar, Mamlatdar of Mormugao Pravinjay Pandit and Verna PI Anand Laxman Shirodkar. The residents alleged that construction has re commenced on disputed private land without lawful ownership, title or acqui sition and have sought im mediate government inter vention to stop the work. They also alleged that con struction has continued de spite directions issued by the Deputy Collector, Mor mugao.
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The complaint seeks an immediate halt to construc tion by SWR, RVNL and Surya Construction, restoration of access to the affected households and directions to the district administration and police to prevent further en croachment or alteration of the disputed land. The villagers demanded registration of an FIR against those responsible for alleged trespass, encroachment and obstruction of access, seizure of construction machinery, vehicles and equipment pending investigation, and an in dependent inquiry into the actions of officials who they allege permitted or facilitated the works. They demanded that no construction be allowed unless lawful title, ownership or acquisition under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (RFCTLARR Act) is established and statutory approvals are produced. The villagers stated in the complaint: “No government agency or contractor can be permitted to act above the law.” They alleged that the actions of SWR, RVNL and Surya Construction amounted to encroachment on private prop erty and disregarded the rule of law. The complaint also states that the ongoing works have “completely blocked the only access available to more than 20 residential heritage houses,” effectively rendering the families landlocked and creating serious risks during med ical, fire, and other emergencies. The residents’ latest escalation comes days after they stopped dumping of ballast at the site, where they alleged that the second track was being laid in a manner that would cut off the traditional motorable access to their homes.
The villagers cited the Deputy Collector, Mormugao’s July 19 directions, under which RVNL was required to furnish all relevant land records, acquisition details, title documents and a proposed plan for maintaining access to affected residents. The direction required that no action resulting in complete blockage of access be taken without providing a suitable alternative arrangement. The Inspector of Survey and Land Records (ISLR) was di rected to conduct a joint site inspection with RVNL and the complainants within a week and submit a site inspection report along with a sketch before the next meeting. The villagers allege that RVNL has not produced the documents sought by the Deputy Collector and that the joint ISLR inspection and report have also not been com pleted. They pointed to the pending dispute concerning owner ship, possession and Record of Rights before the Court of the ISLR, Margao, since January 6, 2025. According to the complaint, 48 respondents are officially recorded in the proceedings and have been attending the case.
The villag ers maintain that while SWR claims possession and occu pation of the land, the issue of ownership remains pending before the competent authority. The complaint alleges that mud, gravel and other con struction material has been dumped over the disputed land, altering its original nature. The villagers invoked the Goa Land Revenue Code, the Indian Easements Act and Section 4(f) of the Goa, Daman and Diu Mamlatdars’ Court Act, 1966, apart from the RFCT LARR Act, in support of their objections. Goencho Ekvott founder Orville Dourado Rodrigues has been among those raising the access issue, following rep resentations made by senior citizens led by Max De Souza before the Deputy Collector, Mormugao. Rodrigues earlier pointed to the administrative direc tions requiring RVNL to produce land records and title doc uments and the ISLR to conduct a joint inspection. The villagers maintained that neither requirement has been complied with, and that affected landowners have submitted Portuguese-era title documents before the rel evant authorities challenging the Railways’ claim over the disputed land. The latest protest is being positioned by the villagers as a further escalation of their campaign, with the appeal now widened beyond Velsao to neighbouring villages and peo ple across Goa. Wednesday’s protest had ended with residents prevent ing further dumping of ballast despite the police presence, after which the villagers maintained that they would con tinue opposing any work that threatens access to their homes.
