Goa: Locals allege Cortalim MLA only gave them lip-service, not keen on solving double tracking issue

CORTALIM: After MLA Anton Vas of the Cortalim constituency (located in the sub-district of Mormugao) of South Goa met and talked to the villagers of Velsao and Pale on Tuesday morning, who were affected by the double tracking of the South Western Railway, some villagers said they were unhappy with the MLA and claimed that he only gave them “lip service”.

“There was no sincerity in his voice or efforts. He is supporting the State government. He only wanted to show off that he is working for the people,” a villager from Velsao told this reporter.

Vas met the project-affected-persons in the presence of Velsao-Pale-Issorcim Sarpanch Maria Gouveia and promised to call a joint meeting with the Deputy Collector Ravishekar Nippanikar, the Sarpanch and the villagers to find a solution and address the people’s issues.

Vas said he was trying to find a solution – not just to the double-tracking issue, but to other problems as well, but some villagers were adamant and not ready to see reason.

Some of the villagers however had a different story to tell, claiming that Vas was only giving them “lip service” to show that he was involved in the matter. “He is pretending to help. He is affiliated to the government and will not go against the State and Central governments,” one of the villagers said.

Former panch member Maria Olga DSouza was quoted by a website as saying the entire village was against double tracking in totality, while supporters of Vas claimed that only a few people were against double-tracking.

Elaborating on the problems faced by the village, D’souza said there was no drainage system, the sound of the train whistles and engine horns was deafening and kids and elders could not get sleep due to the ratting and vibration of the trains.

“Coal bits from the goods wagons fall by our homes, the coal dust settles on our roofs and enters our homes and we cannot sleep due to the trains passing by, a few feet from our homes,” D’souza complained.