PANAJI
Members of the Opposition on Wednesday disrupted proceedings at the culmination of Question Hour and before Zero Hour could commence demanding a half-hour discussion on the South Western Railway double-tracking project.
Stormy scenes were witnessed when legislators trooped to the well of the House raising their demand for the discussion at the fag-end of Question Hour when the starred question on land acquisition for the project raised by Cortalim MLA was being answered by Revenue Minister Jennifer Monserrate.
A supplementary query raised by Saldanha on whether people living in homes adjacent to the double-tracking were informed about the project was about to be answered by Monserrate when Speaker Rajesh Patnekar interjected to announce the end of Question Hour.
He later adjourned the proceedings for 15 minutes when the Opposition legislators refused to relent.
Earlier during Question Hour, Saldanha had sought to know whether the land required to be acquired for the controversial railway double-tracking project in South Goa had been demarcated and private owners intimated.
Responding to the query, Monserrate claimed that although a joint inspection had been carried out in September-October 2019, no report has been prepared. She added that the process of notifying the private landholders is currently in progress.
The question hour ended while the starred question was in the process of being answered and the Speaker refused to permit further proceedings leading to the furore.
