MARGAO, April 16 -- KARSTEN MIRANDA

As Goa prepares to solemnly observe Holy Week and celebrate Easter Sunday, the residents of Velsao find themselves trapped in a modern-day crucifixion of their own - caught between age-old religious traditions and the relentless advance of railway construction that has left them physically and spiritually landlocked.

On Palm Sunday, the faithful of Primeiro Vaddo conducted their annual Way of the Cross procession along the same path their ancestors have walked for generations - now transformed into an obstacle course of mud mounds and construction debris dumped by South Western Railway (SWR). What was once a solemn 350-metre walk to the Assumption of Our Lady Church has become a dangerous trek, with w...