MARGAO
Davorlim farmers, who had received compensation from the Railways in lieu of land for the double-tracking project, have volunteered to return the compensation saying coal transportation will affect their health and destroy agriculture and water resources.
Women farmers offered to return the compensation to the Railways in the presence of district administration officials led by Deputy Collector Margao Jyoti Kumari, local MLA Luizinho Faleiro and anti-track doubling activists at Davorlim on Tuesday noon.
“When the Railways had approached the farmers to part with their land, they had misguided them and had never disclosed that the land was meant for track-doubling to transport coal. I had received an amount of Rs six lakh as compensation in lieu of the land that was procured by the Railways, but I am ready to return the compensation as I do not want my land to be misused for coal transportation,” a woman farmer said.
The farmers demanded that the railways should restore the land to its original condition and they would all return the compensation. “Our houses are very close to the railway tracks and so are our agriculture fields. We and our fields will be affected once the railways start transporting coal on the tracks,” the women said.
The farmers recalled how the heavy earth machinery mobilized by the railways had created havoc in their agriculture fields.
