A day after assurances were believed to be given by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to a delegation, government machinery with armed police, swung into action demolishing around 40-odd structures, including food stalls outside the Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim in the early hours of Thursday. The crackdown comes against the backdrop of reported assurances given by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to a delegation of vendors who had pleaded their case and has taken everyone by surprise.
The deputy collector and SDO Panaji in his order stated that the stalls have encroached into government property and have been conducting business illegally without obtaining the mandatory permissions. While there is an outcry with political players and others taking positions, there are many questions that have remained unanswered.
Firstly, if the identified stalls and structures are illegal why did the authorities choose to carry out the demolition at this unearthly hour? Armed with an order, this job could have been carried out in broad daylight instead of the suspicious-looking execution under the cover of the darkness at dawn.
Secondly, from a few structures a couple of decades back, the area has been crowded with around 40 shops and mobile carts. Going by the official version, these structures have gone about extending their businesses with some of them encroaching even onto the roads. The question is, where were authorities all this while? Extensions have not happened overnight, and the uncontrolled sprouting only goes to show that they were allowed that space.
Thirdly, how did these structures, now labelled as illegal, get panchayat no-objection certificates and subsequent electricity connections? This means that these vendors, Goans and non-Goans, enjoy a tacit backing of political leaders and the panchayat. The Damocles sword has been hanging over these structures for close to a decade, with around half a dozen demolition notices served and later withdrawn during the period. It only goes to show there was political interference.
Fourthly, now that the demolition exercise is done and dusted, how can the government talk about rehabilitation? It is absurd that the government is trying to rehabilitate structures that it has demolished as illegal. Or is this another fake assurance, on the lines of the one given to St Andre MLA Francis Silveria and Santa Cruz Legislator Tony Fernandes on the eve of demolition?
Keeping the legal versus illegal argument aside, the biggest tragedy of this demolition is that the livelihoods of these people have been snatched away amid this gruelling pandemic, a time where the struggles of the common man are as clear as daylight. On the sidelines, this will also be a setback to the thousands of visitors, including those accompanying patients and caretakers who always relied on these stalls and shops for a quick subsidized meal or a snack.
The area has suddenly opened up with adjoining work on the highway picking up pace, and that is where the urgency appears to have come from. Taking strong action against illegalities in a landscape of myriad political hues otherwise appears to be a seemingly tough and complex job.
