PANAJI
Reiterating that the government won’t allow slums on comunidade land, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday said that the directions have been issued to North and South Administrators to submit a detailed report on encroachments across all comunidade land.
Sawant also maintained that the consent of the comunidade will be obtained before legalising the houses of Goans, as he appealed to the 220-odd age-old institutional bodies to extend support to the proposed government decision to amend the Comunidade Code to bring in a required regulation.
Several residents from Serula Comunidade who are currently fighting a legal battle in the High Court to protect their houses from demolition, called on the Chief Minister on Tuesday extending support to the decision to regularise all such houses. The residents said that there are nearly 350 houses who were allotted plots by comunidade almost 15-20 years back. But one Minguel Vaz filed a complaint almost nine years back in Court terming their houses as illegal and since then the matter is pending in court.
They also informed the Chief Minister that all the legal documents including plot allotment letter, Sanad, construction licence, occupancy certificates are in their possession.
Speaking to media, Sawant said that this is one of the best example where comunidade body itself had allotted plots to these people almost 15-20 years back and everything is on record. “This was exactly what I was saying all this while. There are people residing for more than 30-40 years. These are our own Goan people. They are staying there for generations. We are not here to regularise slums or commercial establishments,” he said.
Sawant said that the government does not have any data on encroachment on comunidade and hence has asked both the Administrators to submit it. “Only comunidade bodies would be in position to submit the list of legal and illegal houses,” he said adding ‘we are not going to regularise slums or commercial establishments’.
