MARGAO
With the rail double tracking project derailed for want of land in the Salcete section of the South Western Railway route, railway authorities have knocked the doors of the South Goa District Collector with the hope a solution.
Sources in the know say the latest initiative of the railways to seek the intervention of the District Collector is seen as a move to involve the district administration to procure land before the railways take the next step.
District Collector, Anjali Sehrawat, is believe
With the rail double tracking project derailed for want of land in the Salcete section of the South Western Railway route, railway authorities have knocked the doors of the South Goa District Collector with the hope a solution.
Sources in the know say the latest initiative of the railways to seek the intervention of the District Collector is seen as a move to involve the district administration to procure land before the railways take the next step.
District Collector, Anjali Sehrawat, is believe
d to have given the railway delegation a patient hearing. The delegation led by Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd senior officer Sashibhusan Sahoo impressed upon her to work out a mechanism for procuring the required land in the villages of Chandor, Sao Jose de Areal and Davorlim where the railways had eyed additional land for the project without any success.
Sources in the know informed that the Collector promised the delegation she would study the issue at length before coming out with a solution. It is learnt that the Collector is not averse to ascertaining how the railways had gone about procuring land in the neighbouring states and overcome the opposition.
Land procurement in Chandor, Sao Jose de Areal and Davorlim has hit a roadblock, either because of stiff opposition from the local populace as in the case of Areal, or on account of dispute over the land rate.
While the Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd has commenced work of building retaining walls on the Curchorem stretch armed with NOCs from the land owners, the project work has been delayed on the Salcete sector till date for want of land.
Take the case of Chandor village, where the Railways needs around 30,000 square metres of low lying land for the double tracking project. While a land owner is willing to part with his piece of land, what has come in the way of the smooth transfer of the land is the compensation issue coupled with the fact that the owner has asked for a job for the dependents and a stall at the railway station. "We are ready to negotiate the rate with the owner, but issues such as employment and commercial stalls are beyond our purview," stated Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd senior Officer Sashibhushan Sahoo.
As far as Sao Jose de Areal and Davorlim are concerned, efforts by the railways to procure the land in question has come a cropper following stiff opposition from the local populace.
When asked to outline the options available before the railways in the face of repeated opposition for land procurement in Salcete, Sahoo pointed out that land acquisition falls within the domain of the state government. "So far, the RVNL is trying its best to procure land in question from the land owners. If not, the Railway Board will take a call on how to go about in making the required land available to the Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd to implement the double tracking project," Sahoo said.
Sources in the know informed that the Collector promised the delegation she would study the issue at length before coming out with a solution. It is learnt that the Collector is not averse to ascertaining how the railways had gone about procuring land in the neighbouring states and overcome the opposition.
Land procurement in Chandor, Sao Jose de Areal and Davorlim has hit a roadblock, either because of stiff opposition from the local populace as in the case of Areal, or on account of dispute over the land rate.
While the Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd has commenced work of building retaining walls on the Curchorem stretch armed with NOCs from the land owners, the project work has been delayed on the Salcete sector till date for want of land.
Take the case of Chandor village, where the Railways needs around 30,000 square metres of low lying land for the double tracking project. While a land owner is willing to part with his piece of land, what has come in the way of the smooth transfer of the land is the compensation issue coupled with the fact that the owner has asked for a job for the dependents and a stall at the railway station. "We are ready to negotiate the rate with the owner, but issues such as employment and commercial stalls are beyond our purview," stated Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd senior Officer Sashibhushan Sahoo.
As far as Sao Jose de Areal and Davorlim are concerned, efforts by the railways to procure the land in question has come a cropper following stiff opposition from the local populace.
When asked to outline the options available before the railways in the face of repeated opposition for land procurement in Salcete, Sahoo pointed out that land acquisition falls within the domain of the state government. "So far, the RVNL is trying its best to procure land in question from the land owners. If not, the Railway Board will take a call on how to go about in making the required land available to the Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd to implement the double tracking project," Sahoo said.
