Chandor locals want SWR to restore fabrica land

Concerns raised over expansion of Chandor rail station

Margao: Villagers of Chandor-Guirdolim are up in arms against the South Western Railway (SWR) for allegedly encroaching upon the church fabrica property and demanded that the land be restored to its original state.

A meeting was convened on Sunday by the fabrica and coordinated by GBE (a Chandor NGO) over the land encroachment issue. It was pointed out that the land has neither been acquired nor consent been given by the fabrica.

Nearly 500 villagers were present for the meeting which received support from various quarters including various political parties.

The South Western Railway came in for some sharp criticism for their high handedness and encroaching on land without following proper procedures.

The speakers at the meeting called upon the villagers to keep their personal differences and political affiliations aside and unite for the betterment of the village. “If we do not unite we will not have the numbers to apply pressure on the government,” they said.

The speakers also raised concerns over the mammoth expansion of Chandor railway station with nearly five tracks, suggesting that the station was being developed as a hub for coal.

“We have been protesting for the last one year-and-a-half against the rampant expansion by the South Western Railway and while we were assured that the station would not be developed as a hub yet they went ahead with the expansion by encroaching on land, destroying water bodies and sluice gates,” they said.

The villagers pointed out that if not stopped the future generations will suffer due to coal pollution. 

Prominent among the speakers were members of the fabrica, villagers Joy D’Silva, Felix Furtado, Edward D’Silva, Chandor sarpanch, Vikas Bhagat, Freddy, Yuri Alemao, Dr Jerson Fernandes and so on. Members of Guirdolim and Chandor panchayats were also present.

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