PANAJI: The high court of Bombay at Goa has expressed concern that if no timely action is taken by the authorities, Goa’s beautiful land will become full of haphazard constructions and structures, which is completely unwarranted and antithetical to planned development.
The court has taken suo motu cognisance of illegal constructions mushrooming across the state, and will take up the matter on Tuesday.
The court has called the situation “alarming”. “We accordingly request the learned advocate general to apprise govt at the appropriate level, of the concerns of the court, which in turn shall take appropriate measures including legislative measures, if so advised, so that the menace of illegal encroachments and constructions is checked and abated,” stated the bench comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice B P Deshpande.
AG Devidas Pangam submitted that despite repeated circulars being issued by the directorate of panchayats, sometimes, inaction on the part of the village panchayat, sarpanch, panchas, and secretary means that timely action for checking illegal constructions and execution of demolition orders isn’t taking place.
Last month, the court directed the director of panchayats to file an affidavit by furnishing certain information.
Earlier, certain other directions were also issued by the court to enable the “authorities, including authorities of state govt, namely govt officers and the authorities of panchayats, that is, sarpanchs and secretaries”, to effectively discharge their duties for checking illegal constructions and ensuring demolition of such structures.
“It is common knowledge that in violation of rules, regulations, and laws, illegal constructions and encroachments, sometimes even on government land, are being noticed almost on a daily basis, which are unabated and unchecked,” the court observed.
“Despite there being adequate statutory mechanisms and machinery available, the authorities concerned appear to be lax in the discharge of their duties. As a result, the encroachers and others are emboldened not only to encroach upon the govt land but also raise illegal constructions in the pieces of land where such constructions are prohibited, going to the extent of raising constructions without requisite statutory permissions,” the court observed.
“We have also noticed that constructions have even been raised on public roads and pathways as well,” the bench stated.
“The situation under the aforesaid circumstances is alarming, and accordingly, we express our concern that in case no timely action, including deterrent action, is ensured by the authorities concerned, this beautiful land will become full of haphazard constructions and structures which is completely unwarranted and antithetical to planned development,” it observed.
