Anti-track doubling protestors near the Nessai railway crossing on Monday morning. Santosh Mirajkar
MARGAO
The Nessai railway crossing resembled a garrison town on Monday. Armed policemen, both Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Goa Police, stood guard near the railway crossing.
The presence of over-a-dozen police buses and vehicles on the adjoining open space only suggested one thing “ the men-in-uniform were mobilized in strength to tackle any law and order during the proposed demarcation of railway property.
The protestors, however, remained unfazed. The heavy deployment of armed Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Goa police proved no deterrent for hundreds of anti-double tracking and coal transportation protestors to make common cause with Sao Jose de Areal and Davorlim villagers on Monday.
DGP Mukesh Kumar’s controversial stand on the controversial projects and equally foul language used by DySP Kiran Podwal against the protestors at Davorlim a week ago, was no deterrent for the people from far and wide to come and protest at Sao Jose de Areal and Davorlim on Monday.
They first descended near the Nessai level crossing to express their solidarity with the agitating Areal residents against double tracking. And, they descended at the Davorlim panchayat ghar to demand withdrawal of FIRs registered against the local villagers by the railway police last week and complete stop to the ongoing work.
This is perhaps the first time after the historic Chandor midnight vigil on the railway tracks on November1-2 that hundreds of protestors hit the ground again to register their protest against the three linear projects of coal handling and transportation, double tracking and electricity lines transmissions.
Anxiety and restlessness was palpable on the faces of the protestors as they came face to face with Salcete lone Minister Filipe Neri Rodrigues near the Nessai railway gate. That the Minister had to face a volley of questions only indicated that the people are fed up of the promises and assurances and now look forward for concrete action by the government in power.
The Nessai railway crossing has been the epicenter of the track doubling project for some time now.
Areal villagers and the local Panchayat body had repeatedly halted work executed by the Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd in recent times.
At Davorlim, the protestors again came face to face with local Navelim MLA Luizinho Faleiro. With the railways resuming work at Davorlim after last week’s incident on the tracks, the villagers were not ready to lend their ears to Faleiro as he explained the host of correspondence he made to the authorities right from the Chief Minister and Governor to the Prime Minister to stop the ongoing work.
They made the MLA walk with them to the place and stop the railways stop the work till Tuesday. The presence of the armed Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel or the FIRs filed by the Konkan railway police station once again did not come as a deterrent to the villagers to descend near the tracks and stop the ongoing work.
