Track area for twin rail line inspected
About 60 houses will be affected; 10 hectares of land needed
THE GOAN NETWORK
CURCHOREM
A team of South Western Railways (SWR) along with Curchorem MLA Nilesh Cabral, Deputy Collector South Goa, Mamlatdar, Curchorem councillors and locals on Friday inspected the railway track area at Cambral-Curchorem, where the twin railway lane project is proposed to come up.
The twin railway lane of about 77 kms is expected to be built in Goa.
Speaking to The Goan, Cabral said he along with the Railways general manager, South Goa Deputy Collector, Mamlatdar and locals inspected the area. “In all, 4.5 km railway track passes from Curchorem constituency and I am concerned about any problem along the stretch,” he said.
When asked if people have objections to the twin railway lane project, Cabral said, “The project is not limited to Goa, but the twin railway lane will be done from Delhi. I will take the local people into confidence.”
“In the past, railway projects were undertaken as per the will of the railway ministry, but this time I have purposely brought the Railways officials to inspect the area where the twin railway lane will come and if there is any problem, then we will try to find a solution,” he assured.
He said the underpass work project has been tendered as it is the need of the hour, but some locals have objection to it as they claim that underpass will come up near their houses.
“But the actual issue is once the twin railway lane comes up, then there will be frequent transits of railways, which will result in shutting railway pass gate frequently. In near future to avoid this situation, underpass is a must and it will benefit the local people as they will not have to wait for railway gate to open,” Cabral added.
When asked about the additional land that will be needed for the purpose, Cabral said not much land will need to be acquire, but added that he has suggested a few places where the land acquisition will be necessary.
Commenting on the effect of the project on nearby locals, he said temporary makeshift illegal structures will be affected. “As per my knowledge, we will see that no old legal houses are affected. Some roads which are in Railways property will have to be shifted and built at other places,” Cabral added.
During the inspection, the general manager of the railway project said about 77 kms railway line work will be done in Goa. “There are no heritage structures along this stretch in Goa, but there are about 60 houses which will be compensated by the government as per the rule.”
He also made it clear that no houses in Curchorem are located in this twin railway lane project. “In Goa, about 10 hectares of land will be acquired for the purpose,” he added.
