NGT upholds GCZMA demolition orders against Mandrem resort structures

PANAJI
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has upheld demolition orders against structures linked to a Mandrem resort, ruling that the owner failed to establish that the constructions existed before 1991.  
Dismissing an appeal filed by Harishchandra Naik, the NGT's Western Zone Bench at Pune upheld an earlier order of the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) directing demolition of a shack in Survey No. 269/3 and a G+1 RCC structure in Survey Nos. 269/4, 269/5 and 269/6 at Junaswada, Mandrem.
In its judgment, the tribunal said the appellant's case rested largely on documents purportedly issued by the Village Panchayat of Mandrem to show that the structures linked to Sunny Sunrise Beach Resort pre-dated the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) regime. However, those records failed verification.
“All these above documents are not found to be genuine by the Authority after having made scrutiny of the same,” the bench of Judicial Member Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh and Expert Member Dr Sujit Kumar Bajpayee, observed.
The tribunal had itself sought verification from the panchayat after noting that GCZMA had discarded the documents during its proceedings.
In its verification report submitted to the tribunal, the Village Panchayat of Mandrem stated: "As per the available records, House Nos. 444/2, 444/3, and 444/4 are not registered in VP records."
It also stated that the construction permission relied upon by the appellant was not issued by the panchayat. The verification report similarly rejected the authenticity of other repair permissions cited by the appellant, including documents dated May and October 1986.
"As per the records available with the Village Panchayat Mandrem, the Repair Permission dated 04.06.1986 bearing Ref. No. VPM/HVN/Permission/86-87/333 for House Nos. 444/2, 444/3, and 444/4 are not issued by the Panchayat,” it said.
The dispute arose from complaints alleging illegal construction of a beach shack, bar, retaining wall and other structures in the CRZ area at Mandrem. Following inspections, GCZMA concluded that the structures were illegal and that the owner had failed to produce credible evidence showing they existed prior to 1991.
Site inspections had also recorded the presence of an under-construction two-storey building, landscaping blocks and a compound wall, while noting that the adjoining plot appeared to have been part of a coastal sand dune ecosystem that had been damaged.
GCZMA had eventually held that Naik constructed new structures without statutory approvals and failed to establish their pre-1991 existence.
“It is quite apparent that none of the documents which have been relied upon by the appellant, in order to establish that the structures in question existed prior to 1991, could prove that they were issued by the Gram Panchayat Mandrem, Pernem, Goa. We find no force in the argument of learned counsel for the appellant and therefore uphold the impugned order. Consequently, this appeal stands dismissed,” it said.