track doubling project
GUILHERME ALMEIDA
MARGAO
All eyes are focused on Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar as the Rail Nigam Ltd has moved South Goa Collector for acquisition of land for the controversial track doubling project in Mormugao - a project opposed tooth and nail by former minister and two-time Cortalim BJP MLA Alina Saldanha.
That the Rail Nigam Ltd has knocked the doors of the district Collector to acquire land admeasuring 35,000-odd sq mts along Majorda, Cansaulim, Pale, Issorcim, Dabolim, Ch
icalim and Vasco assumes significance despite MLA Alina Saldanha's stiff resistance for the project.
The Goan, however, understands that the district authorities had constituted a committee to take the Railway's proposal to its logical conclusion, but it has not made much headway till date. The Railway officials are believed to have met Cortalim MLA Alina Saldanha and Vasco MLA Carlos Almeida with the rail doubling proposal, but in vain. "We had moved the proposal to then South District Collector Swapnil Naik with a plea to acquire the land in question for the rail doubling project in Mormugao. Though a committee was constituted by the Collector, no headway has been made till date. We are indeed keeping our fingers crossed," a Railway official told The Goan.
Cortalim MLA Alina Saldanha, however, has stuck to her guns, saying she is not going to give her green signal to the project. "For whom is the rail doubling project and at whose cost. My stand remains the same that Goa does not require the rail doubling project," she said.
Alina added: "Track doubling would only increase the frequency of trains as well as the speed, posing danger to houses of the poor, besides the heritage houses, along the railway line. How would the Railways compensate the owners, whose houses come crumbling down one day due to vibrations after a couple of years," she demanded to know.
Alina said Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has not interacted with her and the people opposing the rail doubling project. She, however, hastened to add that she is firmly opposed to the project, convinced the project is not in Goa's interest.
Nigam officials said the Railways have enough land in its possession to execute the rail doubling project along the line passing through Mormugao. "The Railways can lay the line within the railway property, but we want the additional land to act as a buffer between the tracks and the residential houses," an official said.
The Rail Nigam Ltd had been treading a cautious path in respect of the rail doubling project passing through Mormugao, more so with Alina coming out openly against the project, vowing to oppose the project tooth and nail.
The Goan, however, understands that the district authorities had constituted a committee to take the Railway's proposal to its logical conclusion, but it has not made much headway till date. The Railway officials are believed to have met Cortalim MLA Alina Saldanha and Vasco MLA Carlos Almeida with the rail doubling proposal, but in vain. "We had moved the proposal to then South District Collector Swapnil Naik with a plea to acquire the land in question for the rail doubling project in Mormugao. Though a committee was constituted by the Collector, no headway has been made till date. We are indeed keeping our fingers crossed," a Railway official told The Goan.
Cortalim MLA Alina Saldanha, however, has stuck to her guns, saying she is not going to give her green signal to the project. "For whom is the rail doubling project and at whose cost. My stand remains the same that Goa does not require the rail doubling project," she said.
Alina added: "Track doubling would only increase the frequency of trains as well as the speed, posing danger to houses of the poor, besides the heritage houses, along the railway line. How would the Railways compensate the owners, whose houses come crumbling down one day due to vibrations after a couple of years," she demanded to know.
Alina said Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has not interacted with her and the people opposing the rail doubling project. She, however, hastened to add that she is firmly opposed to the project, convinced the project is not in Goa's interest.
Nigam officials said the Railways have enough land in its possession to execute the rail doubling project along the line passing through Mormugao. "The Railways can lay the line within the railway property, but we want the additional land to act as a buffer between the tracks and the residential houses," an official said.
The Rail Nigam Ltd had been treading a cautious path in respect of the rail doubling project passing through Mormugao, more so with Alina coming out openly against the project, vowing to oppose the project tooth and nail.
