PANAJI
Residents of Sangolda who have been campaigning for the demolition of huts built illegally on comunidade land in the village, have denied that the huts to be demolished are those which belong to the 20-point programme of the village and have said that it is beyond that.
Speaking to The Goan, Reginaldo D’Souza, said that the claim that houses to be demolished belong to the 20-point programme beneficiaries is only to mislead and cloud the air about the pending demolition.
“The area in question is not the 20-point programme; It is in forest land under survey 81/1 belonging to Sangolda Comunidade. Illegal huts that were constructed in Survey 81/1 had been demolished by Administrator of Comunidades in 1992 and in 1996. The area was handed over to Forest Dept. However, due to the lethargic attitude of forest dept, the huts came back,” D’Souza told The Goan.
With the impending demolition, there have been news reports that the houses to be demolished fall within the 20-point programme.
“In fact the 20-point houses are located some distance away and are completely legal,” he said.
After a lengthy legal process, the Bombay High Court at Goa dismissed the petition against the demolition and on 10th of December 2015, under Stamp Number Main 3631 of 2015, the High Court dismissed the case stating that “all petitioners were very well aware of the original order of demolition which petitioners even chose to challenge before the appellate authority based on all the above facts. The Administrator of Comunidades decided to clear the land of the illegal houses and restore the land as it has been designated as “open space”. The demolition date was set by Administrator of Comunidades on 22 & 23 February 2016.
