It’s been nearly two years since the land acquisition proceedings in connection with the railway double-tracking project had begun and the affected landowners are certainly not in the mood to give up no matter how difficult the authorities are making it for them.
Against the backdrop of the State-wide agitation and protests against the proposed double-tracking project, there has been another battle that has been fought at the office of the Mormugao Deputy (Dy) Collector, which has been dealing with the land acquisition cases.
It may be recalled that under the Railways Act, the South Western Railways (SWR) has requisitioned the acquisition of land in Goa, in phases, for doubling of the Hospet-Hubli-Tinaighat-Vasco railway track.
In the month of June 2020, notices were issued by the Mormugao Dy Collector and the Competent Authority stating that 103 survey numbers had been marked for the acquisition of a total area of 60,177 square meters.
From this, 51 survey numbers will come under acquisition from Kulem to Margao and the remaining 52 survey numbers will be acquired from Majorda through Vasco, through the villages of Cansaulim, Pale, Issorcim, Dabolim, Chicalim and Vasco.
SWR has been facing sustained objections against this as the locals fear that the double tracking project will not only wipe out a way of life for the affected families, it will also see the destruction of numerous ancestral houses that are famous world over and also the St Lawrence Chapel at Arossim that was built in 1598.
While the hearings were initially scheduled in October 2020, there were a lot of protests against the holding of such hearings due to the Covid pandemic that eventually led to the hearings getting delayed. However, on May 19, 2021, the Mormugao Dy Collector, the Land Acquisition Officer (LAO) as appointed by the Competent Authority, disposed off the cases related to land acquisition for double tracking even though the State was reeling under the impact of Cyclone Tauktae and Covid wave.
This had led to a furore as litigants were informed less than 24 hours of the hearings that were rescheduled for May 18, 2021 and their cases were disposed off, irrespective of the complaints of the public and prevailing circumstances. Incidentally, there were around 2,800 objections to the land acquisition proceedings and advance notice had been given then to the LAO about their inability to attend the hearings. The common thread between all these objections was the demand to drop the entire land acquisition proceedings altogether.
A year later the fight still continued as five of the affected families managed to get their hearings at the Mormugao Dy Collector. However, here too they suffered setbacks as the LAO disposed of the cases which went against the affected families as the technical arguments that were put forward by them were not taken into consideration.
Nonetheless, all the affected persons are not giving up hope and are ready to appeal against the orders of the LAO with a higher authority.
“We are not deterred at all. See the scope of the LAO is limited and does not take into account our objections against coal transportation, how the project can affect our lives etc. We are in the process of challenging the order in the High Court (HC),” said Olencio Simoes, one of the leaders in the campaign against double-tracking.
It may further be recalled that Goencho Ekvott (GE) along with other groups have also been backing the affected families in these cases.
“Yes, the 5 respondents lost their appeal despite best efforts to produce matter by our (GE) lawyer Adv Seoula Vas to the competent authority, the Deputy Collector of Mormugao Taluka. As per our knowledge, the duty of the Dy Collector is to go through the motion of land acquisition, to possibly offer compensation under prevailing land acquisition acts, rather than to go about the technicalities as were being produced by Goencho Ekvott,” said Orville Dourado Rodrigues, GE Founder member.
“We have applied for certified copies of the 5 orders, therein lies the catch, as we have made it amply clear to the Dy Collector that Goencho Ekvott will not take the matter lying down, but will 100% go for an appeal against the ‘order’ of the Dy Collector to the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court. Our interest lies in what is written in the order. We consider it not to be a lost case as such, but rather as a build up to fight the next battle in the HC.” Rodrigues added.
“This order that was passed is similar to the order that was passed last year for the other families and appears to be applicable to all the land acquisition cases. But it’s not a major setback for us. Plus we are waiting for the Supreme Court to give its order on the recommendations of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) which are against the double tracking project,” said Olencio.
Earlier this week, the SC reserved its judgment on recommendations made by the CEC to cancel SWR’s double-tracking project in Goa.
While the previous years witnessed multiple protests on the ground, this year, the courts have emerged as the new arena for the clash between the locals and the railway authorities.
For instance, the Velsao-Pale-Issorcim panchayat recently moved the High Court against the double tracking stating that the development of the second railway track passing through its villages has been undertaken without its approval or license as required under the Goa Panchayat Raj Act. The petition had demanded that no construction or development work be permitted to be carried out by any authority, be it the State or the Centre, without a license from the village panchayat for the area that falls under the panchayat’s jurisdiction.
Elsewhere and more recently, the Railway Police charge-sheeted four out of the thousands of protestors that had converged near the Chandor Railway Station in November 2020. The Judicial Magistrate First Class (JFMC)) began hearings in this case last week, which led to calls from environmentalists, citizens and political leaders to squash these charges. The four persons against whom FIRs have been registered are members of Goyant Kolsso Naka (GKN) another group that has been at the forefront in the campaign against the three linear projects in the State, which includes the railway-double tracking.
While the Maina-Curtorim Police are in the process of filing a chargesheet against persons named by the Railway police and possible others, the message given out by the people opposing the double-tracking project is that they are ready to face whatever challenges and that the fight is not by a handful of Goans but thousands of locals living across the State.
