MARGAO
After a long time now, the demolition squad, South Goa has finally set in motion the process to pull down illegal structures that had come up along Salcete coastal belt in violation of CRZ norms.
While Tuesday saw the demolition squad razing down a ground plus one storey structure at Colva, social activist Judith Almeida pointed out a couple of orders passed by the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) and upheld by the Courts, including the NGT and Supreme Court are awaiting execution.
In the instant case, the demolition squad deployed heavy machinery to pull down the structure in the presence of strong police force and executive Magistrate Prataprao Gaonkar.
Gaonkar told the media that the demolition squad is executing the orders of the GCZMA to raze down the structure. “The structure in question has been partly razed down. The demolition operation will resume again” he said.
Social activist and Secretary Colva Civic and Consumer Forum Judith Almeida informed that the structure in question was ordered to be razed down by the GCZMA upon a complaint lodged by the Colva Forum.
She, however, lamented that it took almost two years for the demolition squad to kick start the process of razing down the structure.
“The GCZMA had passed the order to demolish the structure in 2022. No appeal was preferred by the party Pawan Kumar Arora against the GCZMA order, but the demolition did not take place in the last two years”, she rued.
Judith only hoped that the South Goa demolition squad would now demolish the remaining 3-4 structures along the Colva-Sernabatim coast after the appeals made by the parties were all dismissed by the higher courts.
“There’s one case at Sernabatim, which has been cleared by the Supreme Court for demolition. We do not know why the demolition squad is not prompt in executing the Court’s order. Even if the party has given the undertaking to raze down the structure, the demolition squad in-charge should seek clear time-frame when exactly the structure will be demolished”, Judith added.
