This is with reference to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's statement that any structure erected on government land in Mayem evacuee property will be demolished. The rising urbanization has triggered unbridled construction activities to meet the needs of the growing population. Government land or other land cannot be allowed to be encroached upon. Any unauthorised or illegal construction on government land or on another's property should always be demolished. If the officials concerned do not deal with it appropriately, the menace of illegal construction cannot be arrested, and it is only a matter of time within which the city will have more unauthorized constructions than authorised ones. The citizens cannot argue that they will do mass scale encroachment on government lands and thereafter seek regularisation of encroachment and constructed buildings allegedly on those grounds. The competent authority should prepare SOPs for officials to check illegal constructions at initial stage.
