MARGAO
Asserting that the Railways has been caught violating the local laws in force with impunity at Guirdolim and other parts of the state, activist Abhijit Prabhudesai on Saturday warned of a civil disobedience movement, saying the people are being pushed to uphold their Constitutional duties of protecting the law of the land.
He pointed out that the state government and the Railways are forcing the people of Goa to uphold their duties to come out on the roads and stop the illegal works executed by the latter. “I want to warn the government that the people of Goa will uphold their constitutional duties of protecting the law if the Railways bulldozes with the project by throwing the local laws to the winds,” Abhijit told the media after the interaction with railway authorities at Chandor on Saturday.
“The Railways had no answer to the questions posed by the people. It is proved again that it has violated all rules in force. It has no CRZ clearance to bury a sluice gate and fill up a CRZ area. There’s no permission from the Water Resources Department under the Goa Irrigation Act to bury the rivulet. Chief Town Planner’s nod is not there to take up filling of low-lying area,” he said.
Saying that the Railways are bulldozing with the project and literally asking the people of Goa to come and stop the work, Abhijit said the Railways have sent a clear message to the people of Goa on Saturday “that the government is doing the illegal works, the government will not stop the work and let the people come and stop it.”
Saying that the Railway officials have only told lies to the people on permissions, Abhijit questioned why did the railways obtain nod from the forest department to cut the trees if they are exempted from obtaining approvals.
Asked to comment on the Railway officials’ repeated insistence that people should approach the local government to get the work stopped, Abhijit said, “We have made around 15-20 letters to the state government since June last, but there’s no reply till date. They tell us to go to the state government, but Chief Minister Pramod Sawant says the track-doubling project is not for coal. We have no faith in the government, but we hope for the best. But, if the government bulldoze with the project, people will be left with no option than to uphold their constitutional duties to uphold the laws in force and also start a civil disobedience movement”.
Capt Viriato Fernandes requested RVNL OSD John Shilshi to quit the job in the interest of the people of Goa, saying the assurances and promises made by him will never be honoured since he is not a Railway official.
Guirdolim Biodiversity Management Committee’s Agostinho Antao said he was unhappy with the meeting with the railway officials. Demanding immediate stoppage of the work, Agostinho feared that the road being built up to the river Kushavati from the Chandor railway station is being done to transport coal in the future.
