MAPUSA
The opposition on Wednesday strongly criticised the State government in the Assembly for failing to implement a mechanism to prevent the misuse of Enabling House Numbers (EHNs), which are meant exclusively for unauthorised residential properties, but are allegedly being used for commercial activities.
Raising the issue during the discussion, AAP MLA Venzy Viegas pointed out that despite EHNs being issued solely for residential purposes, several premises are using them to run businesses.
“In the Anjuna coastal belt, there is a club operating from a property with an EHN. This clearly shows that the government has no system in place to monitor such misuse,” Viegas said.
Responding to the charge, Panchayats Minister Mauvin Godinho clarified that EHNs were introduced to bring unauthorised houses into the formal taxation and utility network. He stressed that EHNs do not grant commercial rights.
“People who built houses illegally were already using government services like water and electricity, but the panchayats were not earning any revenue from them. The EHN system was brought in to formalise this and allow panchayats to collect house and garbage tax,” he said.
Godinho also shifted the responsibility of monitoring misuse onto local governing bodies.
“If a Goan house owner rents out a property with EHN for commercial use, the panchayat or municipality must act. They are the ones collecting tax and are in a position to know what’s happening on the ground,” he stated.
He revealed that around 33,813 EHNs have been issued across the State so far, with about 10,000 households yet to apply.
“Nearly 90 per cent of these illegal houses with EHN belong to Goans,” he said.
Meanwhile, MLA Premendra Shet questioned the rationale behind issuing EHNs instead of regular house numbers and demanded transparency in the process and criteria for their allocation.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant intervened to announce that the government would soon introduce legislation to curb further unauthorised constructions.
“The EHN system has helped owners pay taxes and apply for regularisation, but we will now bring in a law to stop further misuse,” Sawant assured the House.
