MARGAO
Making a fervent plea to the Goa government not to make Goa a coal destination, former chief minister and Navelim MLA Luizinho Faleiro on Thursday sent a letter to the Chief Minister to stop the proposed work of laying the double track at the Davorlim railway crossing, saying the order is against the people.
Faleiro further urged the government to immediately enter into a dialogue with the people instead of foisting criminal cases, saying the activists leading the agitation are fighting to protect Goa.
Addressing the media, the Navelim MLA drew the attention of the Chief Minister to the festivals scheduled on November 8 and 9 when the railway crossing at Davorlim, falling in Navelim constituency, will be closed for traffic to lay the double track.
“The South Goa District Collector has ordered the closure of the railway crossing at Davorlim on November 8 which coincides with the feast of the Davorlim, Zoriwado village, chapel and the Feast of Our Lady of Rosary Church at Navelim. This act of the administration in ordering the closure of the road will immensely inconvenience the people of the village and my constituency,” he said.
Faleiro added: “The novenas for the feast of Our Lady of Rosary at the Navelim parish church are commencing on November 9 morning. Thousands of pilgrims flock to the shrine to pray and honour the blessed. The closure of this traditional public access will create a traffic log-jam and lead to chaos as people come from all over the surrounding village in long processions. It will further anger the people”.
The Navelim MLA recalled that he had raised the issue of coal hub in the Goa Legislative Assembly in 2017, but the government of the day made light of my concerns. “Again in March 2019, I and the farmers of Davorlim had taken up the double-tracking issue with the Collector after the machinery destroyed vegetable cultivation near the railway crossing. Our agitation had forced the Collector to stop the work,” he recalled.
Faleiro, however, expressed surprise that the Collector has now issued an order to close the level crossing to lay the double track, even as he appealed to the Chief Minister to intervene and immediately direct the Collector to withdraw the order of the closing the railway crossing at Davorlim on November 8-9.
