MARGAO
Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation's (GSIDC) grandiose plan to beautify roads around the Margao railway station may help give a facelift to the area, considered the rail entry and exit point.
Margao MLA Digambar Kamat has gone on record underscoring the need to spruce up the city roads connecting the railway station given that the 60-70 trains running on the Konkan railway tracks bring hordes of visitors every day to the State via the Margao railway station.
Agencies including the District Collectorate, Margao Municipal Council (MMC), the Margao police, the Railway Protection Force et al may have to grapple with this moot question – whether the hordes of migrants squatting and occupying the public spaces both, including footpaths and pavements, in front of the railway station and the Aquem side, find themselves in the scheme of things once the GSIDC beautify the roads around the Margao railway station? Have these agencies any plan in place to shelter these migrants or order a clampdown to drive them away from the open spaces as part of the beautification plan? Or, whether these migrants will also figure in the beautification plan given that they have made the footpaths and open spaces in front of the railway station and Aquem side as their second home for months now?
A visit to the Margao railway station on the Aquem side on Friday revealed a disturbing scenario. Hordes of migrants were found taking shelter in the open space close to the Margao fire station. Families were seen cooking food in the open, while makeshift tents were erected as a means of shelter.
The Aquem side of the Margao railway station has become a major entry and exit point to the railway station over the years. The area was in the news earlier this week after a group of persons mercilessly beat up a 38-year-old woman, causing her grievous injuries.
What is disturbing to note is that there has been no action forthcoming from the local municipality or the Margao police, leaving citizens to wonder whether the agencies, including the local civic body and the Men-in-Uniform, have all decided to turn a blind eye to the growing nuisance.
The situation in front of the railway station is no better. A drive down the railway station road from the city revealed a slum in the making. Migrants were found occupying the footpath running parallel to the railway station retaining wall. A tent was also found erected on the footpath as a makeshift shelter.
What came as a big surprise was the fact that the migrants were found taking shelter right inside the railway property, at the bus shelter facility.
Take note, migrants have been occupying the footpath and pavement outside the railway station for months now, but no action has been forthcoming from the authorities to date.
Recently, Margao MLA Digambar Kamat trained his guns at his critics for blaming him for the migrant nuisance outside the railway station. He had taken the stand that the migrants keep returning to the footpaths despite the crackdown by the Men-in-uniform.
The Margao MLA, however, may have to get the authorities to work out a solution to rid the footpaths and open spaces in and around the Margao railway station of the migrant nuisance given that the State government is bracing up to spend crores of rupees on the beautification of the roads leading to the railway station.
