PANAJI
The village panchayat of Velsao, Pale, Issorcim has challenged the ongoing work on the railway double tracking being carried out within the jurisdiction of the panchayat sans permission from the panchayat.
The panchayat in a writ petition before the High Court has challenged the authority to begin the work without applying for nor obtaining any permissions from the local panchayats.
In its petition the panchayat has argued that as a constitutionally established and elected local governmental body for the villages of Velsao, Pale, and Issorcim, it is an important authority as far as development and construction activities within these villages are concerned.
“As per the statutory scheme of the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, as well as the Goa Land Development and Building Construction Regulations, 2010, no development or construction activities can be undertaken within the jurisdiction of a village panchayat without written permissions being issued under the specific provisions of the Panchayat Raj Act as well as the Building Regulations. In spite of these provisions, the Respondent Authorities have on multiple occasions carried out development or construction activities in relation to the railway track doubling project without the necessary permissions from the Petitioner authority,” the panchayat has argued.
The High Court has issued notice to the State, Centre and Railway authorities asking them to respond to the questions raised by the petition.
The Panchayat has also already issued a demolition order directing the railways to remove structures recently erected.
The matter will next be heard on March 23.
