VASCO
Residents of Velsao on Monday accused railway authorities of burying their traditional storm drains while undertaking construction activity in Velsao.
A number of villagers arrived at the site and confronted railway authorities and sensing trouble, a Verna police team was summoned to the site to cool off tensions between both parties.
Orville Dourado, founder member of NGO Goencho Ekvott, told reporters that villagers had firmly decided to stay united and not allow the double tracking, come what may.
“We had traditional access to quite a few residences, water bodies and storm water drains that are now buried during construction activity of the Railways.”
“We have a traditional storm drain here of around 1.5 to 2 meters in height and we also have another huge water body almost like a lake. According to information provided to us, no Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) has been carried out on the stretch from Kulem to Vasco.”
“Villagers will challenge authorities and will not allow double tracking activities here. The landlords, who are actually the victims, are being asked by the deputy collector to show their land documents to prove their credentials, but no authority is pointing fingers at the Railways which is undertaking construction activity,” said Dourado.
