the goan I network
CANACONA
Canacona Mamlatdar on Monday conducted a verification drive of the tourism structures ordered for removal by the National Green Tribunal( NGT) alone the beaches reserved for turtle nesting at Agonda.
Canacona Mamlatdar Raghuraj Phaldessai personally inspected to verify the number of tourism structures removed, and also with the help of Surveyor and Talathi jotted down the number of structures still standing at the respective sites.
The verification was conducted to verify the written replies submitted by the concerned tourism operators to GCZMA, soon after the High Court granted a stay on the NGT-ordered demolitions of hundreds of alleged illegal tourism structures of about 64 tourism operators on Agonda coast, informed a source.
According to sources, on Monday, the Canacona Mamlatdar successfully verified that approximately about 25 tourism operators, who had submitted to the concerned authority that they have either removed or are in the process of removing their tourism structures had restored the land/site to its original self.
Mamlatdar Phaldessai, accompanied by surveyor Narendra Agrasani and Talathi Ram Velip, began the verification process at Tambdem area and completed verification of about 25 operators replies.
It may be recalled Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) after being penalized by National Green Tribunal (NGT) for non-implementation of its previous order for removal of tourism structures from Agonda and three other turtle nesting beaches of Goa, issued demolition orders to about 64 tourism operators having over 600 tourism structures at Agonda, before coming with a demolition squad on 6th May, which was however, strongly resisted by the alleged tourism stakeholders, before the High Court granted a stay on demolitions.
The officers of GCZMA, Tourism, and Forest, besides the Collector and his subordinates, personally went around most of the alleged illegal tourism operators premises and advised self-removal of all the concerned structures before withdrawing the demolition squad.
While granting the stay, however, the High Court had fixed June 10 as the date of the next hearing, which according to sources, stands postponed. The next hearing is on June 27.
GCZMA has accordingly called for a ground report over the status of the alleged illegal tourism structures on Agonda Turtle Reserved Beach.
