PANAJI
The Bombay High Court at Goa has asked the Goa government to verify the legality of 44 structures falling within the Anjuna Village panchayat whose demolition was stayed by the Directorate of Panchayats.
The Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority and the Goa State Pollution Control Board have been tasked with verifying the structures.
The structures had mushroomed in the No Development Zone (NDZ) of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) and were part of the 275 structures that were provisionally identified as being illegal and in violation of the CRZ norms.
So far the panchayat has issued demolition notices to around 100 structures while notices were issued to the rest.
In April last year, the High Court directed the Director of Panchayats to dispose off appeals against demolition orders passed by the Anjuna panchayat within a period of four weeks.
The orders came after the Anjuna panchayat informed the High Court, which is hearing a suo motu writ petition against rampant illegal structures within the Anjuna panchayat that it has prima facie identified 275 illegal structures in the No Development Zone (NDZ) of which the panchayat issued 100 demolition orders, out of which about 18 demolitions have already taken place, the panchayat informed the High Court.
The High Court also observed how via the stay being granted by the Directorate of Panchayats, “these structures continue to be exploited for commercial purposes.”
