PANAJI
The Union Ministry for Tourism and Culture has formed a special team of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to crack down on illegalities involved in the construction of a controversial bungalow in the protected Old Goa area, Union Minister G Kishen Reddy said on Saturday.
Reddy said that he had been informed by Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Tendulkar about the controversy surrounding the illegal bungalow, which is linked to BJP national spokesperson Shaina NC's husband Manish Munot and Suvarna Lotlikar, the spouse of Goa Forward party official Suraj Lotlikar, and had initiated action into the affair.
"I got that information. I enquired yesterday only in Delhi. MP Tendulkar told me. They have constructed it without ASI permission. We will take action. This is wrong. Enquiry is on. I have asked the ASI to form a special team to enquire. We will definitely take action on behalf of ASI," Reddy told reporters.
Reddy's comment comes a day after Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao had come down heavily on government agencies that facilitated the construction of the illegal bungalow, describing such developments as "obnoxious".
The Archbishop also said that such unregulated activities could lead to the 17th-century church complex losing its world heritage status bestowed upon it by UNESCO.
With protests rapidly gathering pace, the state Town and Country Planning Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Chandrakant Kavlekar has said that the permissions and licences for constructing the structure were illegally obtained, even as the local village panchayat has now revoked permissions for the projects and served the original owner of the land where the construction has been carried out, with a show-cause notice.
Reddy said that he is "convinced about the issue", adding that such a construction should not have been allowed to come up.
"Absolutely, I am convinced about the issue. It should not have happened, but it has. We will decide on this," Reddy said.
