MARGAO
Who are they and where have they come from? Why have the authorities turned a blind eye to their presence on the footpath, just metres away from the Margao railway station? Does the presence of the migrants occupying the footpaths augur well for a tourist State when thousands of visitors descend at the Margao railway station before heading to their respective destinations? And, why have the authorities still not cracked a whip on the encroachments of the public footpath or shifted them to shelters?
These and other questions have indeed come to the fore as a group of migrants, including women and children, have made the footpath outside the Margao railway station their home.
Locals pointed out that the migrants have converted the footpath as their second home. They cook and sleep on the footpath. The footpath is covered with a tarpaulin sheet, especially at night, protecting the migrants from rain and bad weather, but action from the authorities has not been forthcoming till date.
Locals suspect that the migrants had been occupying the premises inside the Margao railway station in the past, before they were driven out by the railway police. Since then they have been occupying the footpath, throwing up questions why their presence has still not come under the scanner of the State, district and police authorities.
Saturday’s gruesome murder at Sirvodem, involving migrant labourers have brought to the fore the presence of the migrants converting the footpath as their home. “Will any visitor or stranger coming out of the railway station dare cross the footpath when the same is being encroached,” questioned a local resident.
He added: “We do not know why the authorities did not clear the footpath of the occupiers. Hope the Saturday’s murder will come as an eye opener to the law enforcing agencies to act and avert any such incidents in the future.”
