MARGAO, March 18 -- Team Herald

In response to former Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu's statement that any project should be discussed with local people before its launch, residents of Velsao have supported his view, insisting that the government must seek public consent before acquiring land for development purposes.

One of the affected residents, Sandra Rodrigues, pointed out that the mud filling that has taken place has raised the ground level of their former traditional public access and motorable road so high that it is even above their compound wall. For context, the road was previously at the level of the base of their compound wall.

Rodrigues also pointed out that the area on which mud filling has taken place, parallel to ...