MARGAO
Goencho Ekvott has on Monday said its stand against the disastrous South Western Railway Double Tracking that is being illegally constructed through certain parts of Goa due to the active connivance of some ruling party MLAs and their henchmen at various levels - public & private, has been vindicated by the report of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to the Supreme Court.
Saying the CEC has outright rejected the Double Tracking Project from Castlerock to Kullem and has also called action on the other two linear projects, Goencho Ekvott has said this is certainly excellent news for our fragile environment, the flora & fauna and the local people who are residents on both sides of the railway tracks.
Goencho Ekvott has thanked the NGO Goa Foundation and its directors Adv Norma Alvares and Dr Claude Alvares and his team of legal experts, the partners in the movement Captain Viriato Fernandes and his team at Goencho Avaaz, Dr. Bolmax Pereira and his youth at Chicalim Youth Farmers Club, Various Youth Associations of Goa, Goencho Ekvott Overseas, Heritage Action Group of Goa, VACAD, GFDO, Goenche Rakhandar, Goenkar - Ek Pavl Echarachem, GAKUVED, Goencho Ramponkarancho Ekvott and various components of the fishing & local communities, and various other organisations who stood by us in most difficult & trying times.
Goencho Ekvott also thanked all those who worked tirelessly to prepare the database, the nearly one hundred village panchayats & their representatives who passed resolutions against Double Tracking and movement of coal from MPT to the hinterland of Karnataka & Maharashtra by road, rail & rivers, all those who participated in the 73 awareness campaigns and 23 corner meetings for their wholehearted supported, the Goa Police and all those people who contributed their resources, time and efforts despite a raging COVID-19 pandemic across India.
“This is a decisive moment for the people of Goa who have shown their resilience that they cannot be bought off either by money power or threats from the corporates whose sole aim is to permanently convert green Goa into a coal corridor for the transportation of coal for their power & steel plants based in the hinterland of Karnataka & Maharashtra”, the NGO said, adding “Our people will always be indebted to the members of the Central Empowered Committee who through their most valuable report have taken a very bold stand in the best interests of our tiny State of Goa.
