Acting on a complaint by activist Arturo D’Souza, Santa Cruz panchayat authorities cleared encroachments on the footpath by a shop owner opposite the St Francis Colony.
The drive was conducted on Thursday in the presence of Deputy Sarpanch Domnic Pereira, panchas Amabelle Gomes, Perpetua D’Souza and Elson Braganca, panchayat secretary Mahesh Naik and the Old Goa police.
Various items were attached in the drive, which included racks placed on the footpath among others.
Later speaking to reporters, Dy Sarpanch Pereira informed that the one running the shop had extended it onto the footpath, due to which customers were parking their vehicles on the road.
“This created traffic congestion and put the road users to inconvenience,” Pereira said and informed that after Arturo’s complaint, the panchayat followed all due procedure giving time to the shop owner to clear the encroachments on this own.
“As he failed to comply, the panchayat had no option but to clear the encroachments,” he added.
Arturo D’Souza said he has been complaining about the same to the panchayat authorities since 2016.
“But nobody took any action against the same, until today,” D’Souza added.
A panchanama of the drive was conducted wherein the list of items attached was recorded. Further, the panchayat has given time to the shop owner to clear the rest of the encroachments, within seven days time.
