PANAJI
The Bombay High Court at Goa has taken suo motu cognizance of the presence of illegal structures at Girikar wada in Arambol after the village sarpanch informed the court that there were 179 structures that were being used for commercial purposes.
Hearing a petition that was initially filed by one Ravi Harmalkar who had approached the High Court against a four-storeyed illegal construction that was set up in the village falling right within the no development zone, besides a creek, the High Court had sought information about other illegal structures too in the vicinity.
“As far as that one structure that was put up by someone from Delhi, that structure is ordered to be demolished in the sense that he will demolish the construction by December 13,” Advocate General Devidas Pangam, said.
“In the adjoining plot there is a structure that is put up by the sarpanch. In that case the court had ordered sealing of that structure. Now the court has further taken suo motu cognizance of all structures in this area called Girikar wada where the sarpanch resides and the sarpanch has reported to the court that there are almost 179 structures where activities of commercial nature are going on,” the AG added.
“Insofar as those structures are concerned, the HC has directed that the authorities should take action before the next date of hearing. HC is going to monitor all these activities. The CRZ authority, the panchayat, the Pollution Control Board will verify the legality of these structures, whether all permissions are granted, whether the permissions are there or whether these structures are illegal, whether these structures are permitted under the CRZ notification. All these issues will be dealt with by the HC. The matter is fixed on December 20. On that day all authorities will have to file compliance reports,” the AG said.
The Bombay High Court at Goa in mid-October had ordered the sealing of the four-storeyed hotel that was built and was operating without any permission from any authorities within the Coastal Regulation No Development Zone.
High Court expressed that it was “completely shocked that a structure of this magnitude could come up in a highly eco-sensitive No Development Zone without obtaining permissions from any of the Authorities under any of the several legislations and regulations which would normally apply to these types of constructions assuming that such a construction was permissible in a NDZ.”
On November 1, the High Court was informed that in the vicinity of the four-storeyed hotel in Arambol, two more illegal structures were built in the No Development Zone belonging, allegedly, to the father and uncle of the sarpanch of Arambol.
