PANAJI
The High Court of Bombay at Goa has directed to cover or take down the prominently displayed illegal hoardings on the Mandovi riverside.
In its order on Friday, the Division Bench of Justice Bharat Deshpande and Justice Valmiki Sa Menezes also asked the Electricity Department to disconnect the power supply to these hoardings.
The Village Panchayat of Penha de Franca in whose jurisdiction the hoardings are located is ordered to monitor the veiling of the hoardings and to refrain from permitting the display of billboards or advertisements on any of the 20 hoardings until further orders.
“Since the report of the GCZMA (Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority) shows that all the 20 hoardings are within the NDZ (No Development Zone) area, we direct the owners of the land wherein these hoardings are existing, as well as the companies using such hoardings, to immediately stop displaying the advertisements by covering them with cloth. We further direct the Executive Engineer, Division VI, Electricity Department, Mapusa to disconnect the electricity connections of all these 20 hoardings,” reads the order.
The Court has further granted liberty to the owners/companies to approach the GCZMA to put up their specific defense but such objections are to be filed within one week from the date of the order.
“The GCZMA shall decide such objections, if any, on a case-to-case basis and pass necessary orders within a period of three weeks thereafter,” it added, as the Court is hearing a suo motu writ petition against All Goa Hoarding Owners Association and six others.
