PANAJI
The Bombay High Court at Goa has asked the Bicholim Deputy Collector who has been tasked with keeping a check on illegal sand mining in North Goa to file an affidavit explaining the actions he has taken on complaints of illegal sand mining.
When the matter came up for hearing, Adv Norma Alvares told the court that while the Officer who has been made in charge of South Goa has been doing a commendable job in tackling sand mining, the officer in charge of North Goa has not been responsive to complaints and hasn’t displayed any eagerness to tackle the issue.
Adv Alvares also pointed out that the officer in North Goa is not responsive and as a result, there was illegal sand mining taking place. Complaints of illegal sand mining were also forwarded to the High Court with the note that they were not being acted upon by the Officer concerned.
In response, the Advocate General told the Court that he will not only look into the complaint but also file an affidavit of the concerned Deputy Collector concerning the complaint as well as other complaints which he may have received within one week along with a status report.
“If for any reason, the affidavit or the status report cannot be filed, then, Deepak Vaigankar, the Deputy Collector appointed to attend to the complaints in North Goa to virtually attend court proceedings with the record of action if any taken by him on the issue of unauthorised sand extraction,” the High Court bench of Justices M S Sonak and M S Jawalkar, said.
