In February 2022, the Velsao Panchayat, which administers the villages of Velsao, Pale and Issorcim in South Goa, moved the High Court against double-tracking of the South Western Railway line between Hospet in Karnataka and Vasco da Gama in Goa. The local body claimed that it had not been consulted before the project was approved and the required permits had not been acquired. Six private landowners in Velsao have approached the High Court separately on similar grounds. Residents of Cansaulim-Arossim-Cuelim panchayat area were also agitating against the acquisition of land for the project, but their panchayat said it did not have the authority to take action.

Of the entire stretch that the railway line will cut through in Goa, Velsao-Pale-Issorcem is one of the most densely-populated areas, said Olencio Simoes, joint secretary of Goencho Ekvott, a civil society organisation that is leading the protests against the double tracking project. Protests in the area picked up pace in November 2021, when villagers came out in large numbers to oppose the land survey and demarcation work being carried out by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL). According to Olencio Simoes, RVNL officials forcefully entered private land and installed barbed wires to fence off the land.

Residents said the existing railway track passing through the village has been built on land that has still not been acquired. “When the existing track was laid in 1890, this land was given by the people as a ‘gift’ to the Portuguese government. The Railway continues to use the land but ownership belongs to the original land owners,” said Simoes. Heritage conservationist groups and activists say that double tracking will increase vibrations from the train movement and cause cracks in the homes lined along the road.

A larger state-wide agitation has been brewing in Goa since June 2020 against the section of the proposed rail line that would cut through the Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary and Mollem National Park. The double-tracking of South Western Railways is one of the three linear projects in the state sanctioned in December 2019 and April 2020 during the first lockdown, allegedly without adequate debate and consultation. The other two projects were the laying of an additional transmission line and the widening of National Highway 4A. The railway line, which would cut across 342 km of land in the two states of Goa and Karnataka, is divided into two phases: Hospet-Tinaighat and Tinaighat-Vasco. The Castle Rock-Kulem stretch of Phase II cuts through 120 hectares of forest land, including 113 hectares of protected land, and the Kulem-Margao section of the same phase cuts through 16 ha of forest land, including 14 hectares of protected area. As many as 59,000 trees are likely to be cut for the three projects.

In early 2020, Goa’s civil society erupted in a series of marches, study groups, created protest art, and launched a massive awareness campaign. Citizen movements like Goyant Kollso Naka (‘No Coal in Goa’), Aamchem Mollem (‘Our Mollem’), and Goenche Ekvott led the agitation. They highlighted the wealth of biodiversity housed in the protected forest stretch and pointed to shortcomings in the Environment Impact Assessment reports ([here](http://www.dstegoa.gov.in/EIA report from Kulem-Madgaon Section.pdf) and [here](http://www.dstegoa.gov.in/EIA report from Kulem to Castlerock Section.pdf)). These included problems like vague methodology, glaring omissions of certain species, undercounting of mammal species, and lax standards of monitoring.

On May 9, 2022, the Supreme Court struck down the environmental clearance granted by the National Board for Wildlife to a 26 Kilometre stretch extending from Castle rock in Karnataka to Kulem in Goa. This verdict came in light of the recommendations of the Centrally Empowered Committee (CEC) constituted by the Court for examining the clearance. The apex court also noted that the capacity of the existing track is underutilised. However, work beyond the Kulem stretch – which includes Velsao, Cansaulim, and Chandor, among others is continuing. Villagers have pointed out that it is a waste of money to continue work on one stretch when proposed work on another section has been struck down.

In early August 2022, the High Court dismissed a separate petition filed by a group of citizens of Chandor and Girdolim who have organised themselves under the banner 'Ganv Bhavancho Ekvott'. Their petition was against the double tracking work being carried out on their village land. Similarly, the Court dismissed the petition filed by Velsao Panchayat on October 11, 2022. In both cases, the High Court noted that the provisions of the Railways Act, 1989 would override the need for prior permissions from state legislations, such as the Panchayat Raj Act of 1994.

Goenche Ekvott members said they would challenge the verdict in the Supreme court. On ground, RVNL's work and protest by villagers has been ongoing. Most recently, in January 2023, RVNL’s attempt to build a 260-metre service track was met with opposition from locals. Residents said the land where the work in ongoing is private property and there has been no agreement over acquisition.