MARGAO
Exasperated over the ongoing work executed by the Railways by filling up the water bodies and damaging a sluice gate, local villagers of Guirdolim and Chandor have warned that they will be left with no option but to take the law in their hands.
Locals warned that the railway officials will be sadly mistaken if they think they can indulge in illegalities and get away with it by invoking the Railway Act.
While Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd General Manager S B Sahoo repeatedly insisted that the Railway Act empowers the Railways to go ahead with the proposed track-doubling work without obtaining permissions from the local authorities, locals questioned whether the Act empowers the officials to bulldoze through water bodies in flagrant violation of the local rules in force.
Chandor Sarpanch Edward D’Silva warned that the Railways has indulged in violations in flagrant violation of the Goa Irrigation Act.
Guirdolim Biodiversity Management Committee Chairman Agostinho Antao claimed that after the sluice gate was buried, the Railways has released the water by breaching a private bandh. “This issue can be resolved only after the government surveyor demarcates the land acquired by the Railways. Till such time, the demarcation is carried out, the Railways should stop all work at the site,” Agostinho demanded.
