The Goa government was totally cornered with the bill to grab land that it believes is abandoned with no legal heirs. First these are immovable properties and many cases of land sales have taken place with the help of the officers in the various departments coordinating the sale. Most of the land owners may have migrated but the Mamlatdar, the land registry officers and land surveyors play the role of facilitating such illegal sales. As it is, many Mamlatdars and talathis illegally include names of tenants in form I & XIV, and this continues till date. Thanks to MLA Carlos Ferreira of Aldona and the opposition for questioning the government on the bill flaws. Secondly the power bestowed to the local bodies to issue licences for re-constructions, this is nothing but another means to allow illegal structures to come up in the setback areas. There is a need to appoint a Technical officer as mandated in the Goa Building Regulation 2010 to have a technical and competent officer to guide the VP secretary and the local body before issuing the reconstruction licence, so that setbacks are maintained.
