Team Herald
VASCO: Mormugao Deputy Collector Ravishekar Nippanikar on Monday said that the Railways was working on its own land at Velsao, and called on the villagers opposing the double-tracking project to produce documents to prove their claim on the property owned by the Railways.
Villagers living along the tracks at Velsao have objected to the railway workers felling their trees and dumping construction material near their houses, claiming that the work was being undertaken on private land.
“I met former panch Ashok Souza, Velsao Sarpanch Maria Gouveia and a local resident Orville Dourado, and informed them that the Railways owned the land that they were working on, as per the survey plans. The locals must produce their own land records to prove their claim on the land, but none of them appeared before me with any documents,” said Nippanikar.
The Deputy Collector added that he had assured the residents that the Railways would maintain any traditional access path existing in the area.
“I instructed the Railways to carry on with their work as it is being done as per procedure. This land was existing prior to the survey records conducted on the Land Revenue Code 1968, and nobody has filed any claim on the Railway property or the existing tracks. People who claim that the Railways are encroaching on their private properties must appear before me or the Railway authorities with relevant documents, and we can then stop the work and conduct enquiries,” said Nippanikar.
