MAPUSA
The State government may have acted with utmost alacrity and swiftly demolished illegal structures in Baina, but the administration under the same government has failed to implement a High Court order to demolish illegal houses/huts on comunidade land in Sangolda.
Calangute Police were present in full force to provide protection to authorities to carry out demolition of illegal structures in Sangolda on February 22, but no demolition could take place, as the deputy collector failed to turn up at the site.
Acting on a petition filed by the Sangolda Comunidade, the High Court in 2012 had passed a demolition order against at least 28 houses that illegally sprouted in an open space/reserved forest area.
The demolition order was served on the Sangolda Panchayat and the administrator of Comunidades.
After receiving the court order, the administrator had served a final reminder notice to encroachers, sarpanch/secretary of Sangolda Panchayat and issued a final notice to demolish the structures under Section 66 (4) of Goa Panchayati Raj Act 1994.
But the illegal squatters along with vested interests, including some politicians, sought to buy time and filed a case with the deputy chief minister, the revenue minister, who in turn granted stay on the demolition.
The deputy chief minister, after studying the matter for three years, finally concluded that the houses/huts should be removed from the
open space.
The administrator of comunidade had then fixed demolition date on November 13, 2015. But once again, the illegal occupants managed to get a stay from the High Court on the pretext that they were not served demolition notices.
The High Court found no merit in the argument of the illegal occupants and dismissed the case, paving the way for demolition of the structures.
Armed with the High Court order, the administrator had fixed the demolition on February 22 and 23, 2016, but the State administration appears to have given yet another lease of life to the illegal occupants.
The occupants staying in the illegal structures let out sewage water in open drains, thereby polluting village wells, which gave rise to health hazard.
“Number of tests was conducted by the Goa State Pollution Control Board confirming the presence of coliform bacteria. The GSPCB had also directed the health officer of Candolim and the secretary of Sangolda on at least 17 occasions to initiate appropriate action in the matter,” said Reginaldo D’Souza, a member of comunidade and a local from the area.
“Some vested interests were spreading lies and planting misleading news in a section of the media in the matter,” D’Souza further said.
“The illegal structures are in Survey 81/1, which is an open space and not houses built under the 20-point programme. The houses under the 20-point programme are on another survey number and has nothing to do with this case,” D’Souza clarified.
