PANAJI
The Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub tragedy has thrown a harsh spotlight on Goa’s panchayats – the grassroots bodies meant to keep 'illegal' development in villages under check.
But here’s the catch: even when panchayats crack down on illegal constructions, their efforts often hit a wall – the Directorate of Panchayats (DoP).
Take the 'Birch by Romeo Lane' case itself.
The Arpora-Nagoa panchayat had ordered the club demolished, a strong move, except nothing of the sort actually happened.
Why? Because the then Panchayat Director swooped in with a stay order. And once the DoP steps in this, panchayats are legally barred from acting further. It’s like pulling the handbrake on local governance.
Worse, this isn’t an isolated story. Across Goa, demolition orders are piling up, but enforcement is similarly stuck in limbo.
Official figures from the DoP itself tell the tale: 3,228 allegedly illegal constructions are under panchayat jurisdiction. More than half – 1,730 – are in Bardez taluka alone, making it ground zero for unauthorised building. North Goa has 2,179 cases, South Goa another 1,049. All of them are tangled up in hearings at the DoP level.
Here’s how the process works. Panchayats, empowered under the Goa Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, detect violations and issue demolition orders. But the moment the affected party appeals to the DoP, the bulldozers stop rolling. The appellate authority grants stays, and the cases drag on endlessly.
The numbers are staggering, but the bigger question is sobering: if panchayats can’t enforce their own orders, who’s really running the show? For now, it seems Goa’s grassroots institutions are stuck playing second fiddle to the DoP, offering a happy position for the marauding real estate and construction lobby.
