Complaint highlights damage to productive soil
MAPUSA
Residents of Saligao have urged the administration to immediately conduct a site inspection, issue a stop-work order, confiscate machinery and vehicles involved in alleged illegal land filling, and initiate legal proceedings against violators accused of illegally filling cultivable agricultural land under Survey No. 296 in the village.
The demands were made in a complaint submitted on Thursday before the Deputy Collector and Sub-Divisional Magistrate, a day after alert villagers intervened to stop the dumping of mud and debris into the agricultural field.
Copies of the complaint were also forwarded to the Saligao Police and the Saligao Panchayat.
In their complaint, residents alleged that the ongoing dumping activity was drastically altering the topography of the land, threatening the local ecosystem, and permanently damaging productive agricultural soil protected under the Goa Command Area Development Act, 1997 (CADA).
The complainants also cited directions issued by the High Court of Bombay at Goa in PIL No. 3/2024, which mandate authorities, including the Deputy Collector, Flying Squad officials, and local police, to take swift action against illegal land filling and conversion of agricultural land.
Expressing frustration over what they described as weak enforcement, the residents stated that citizens were repeatedly being forced to monitor and report violations despite authorities being under a judicial mandate to prevent such illegalities.
The complainants urged the administration to immediately direct the Flying Squad and local police to conduct an on-site inspection, issue a stop-work order, confiscate machinery and vehicles involved in the alleged illegal filling, and initiate legal proceedings against the violators for breaching agricultural land laws as well as the High Court’s directives.
The villagers have demanded immediate intervention before irreversible damage is caused to the agricultural land.
