The Bombay High Court at Goa orders on Tuesday directing the Anjuna Panchayat to seal 175 structures identified as ‘illegal’ and operating without any commercial licences from the Anjuna Panchayat exposes the grim reality of coastal Goa. Earlier, there were 275 illegal constructions of different kinds, including commercial establishments and structures like toilets, soak pits and borewells that were identified by the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority.
The Anjuna panchayat has been in the eye of the storm for being largely responsible for illegalities of structures along that coast. The question is how does the State ensure the sanctity of the No Development Zone, which it has been defending so stoutly even on the floor of the Legislative Assembly?
The glaring illegalities in the No Development Zone point directly to the fact that the system is completely compromised, an inference that is drawn given the money that is going into the construction of these structures. No builder would invest that kind of money unless he is sure of the project. Authorities have to answer how such structures, 275 in all as per data, were allowed the liberty to encroach into the NDZ.
One may argue that the state coastline does not have a clear demarcation on the NDZ leading to citizens encroaching beyond the ‘Laxman Rekha’. The point however is about how authorities turn a blind eye to such blatant illegalities, and what prompts the panchayat not to take action on encroachments.
Yesterday, the Goa State Pollution Control Board imposed a Rs 2.77 crore fine towards environmental compensation on a private construction company that owns 31 villas at Anjuna for operating without establishing a sewage treatment plant and consent. It is learnt that the villas are also not registered with the tourism department, despite being a commercial project. How was occupancy given to these villas, and how did the panchayat ignore violations?
After the High Court rap on a resort that was operating with clear CRZ violations at Arambol and without any permissions, it came to light that there were 51 other illegal structures in the vicinity and around 187 such structures along the Arambol coast. The loot and plunder along the coast are as clear as daylight, but unfortunately, these are illegalities that only the courts can see.
The State government which has initiated changes to the land laws with recent amendments to the Town and Country Planning Act may have a genuine intent to define and protect the NDZs, but the resolve is defeated in the wake of the blatant illegalities and which is why there is a huge trust deficit whenever the government tries to bring in land reforms. With such large-scale coastal violations, the CRZ or the NDZ appear to be a symbolic demarcation on paper that holds very little meaning on the ground.
The State government must ensure that authorities and panchayats are held accountable in the system that has bent too much to accommodate vested interests. If there are no strictures in place, the coastline could be buried under rubble and concrete by the time 2047 arrives. Protecting the coast is paramount to secure the identity of Goa and its coastline as the State sets its eyes on vikas.
