The demolition of illegal structures along Goa's coast which began after the Bombay High Court at Goa fixed a deadline for the state government to raze down these structures is getting skewed. Some 480-odd structures were listed as 'illegal' under the CRZ regulations by the coastal panchayats during the course of a long drawn proceeding before the High Court. The latter finally ordered that these be demolished, some time in December. And, it gave the administration one months time to start the demolitions.
But there was also left wide open, a window of hope. The High Court gave the owners of these 'illegal' structures the option to approach the many quasi-judicial courts and get their structures adjudicated for their legality or illegality within a month. It's now three weeks since the state administration's two demolition squads -- North Goa and South Goa -- have been bull-dozing the 'illegal' structures in the No Development Zone. And the worst fears have come true. Prima facie, the profile of the owners and of the structures which have been demolished and those that have managed to survive the CRZ axe, is indicative of how the wealthy and influential have managed to obtain stays from the many quasi-judicial courts manned by bureaucrats. While, in several cases huts used to store fishing nets and canoes have got demolished.
In fact, there is this case in a coastal Salcete panchayat where a hotel only got partly demolished. Why? Because a Nationalised Bank, which had lent money to this hotel's owner, managed to get a stay on the demolition from one of the quasi-judicial courts because it had not yet recovered all its dues from the borrower. Under which provision of law? The Securitisation Act?
Three weeks of demolitions and only 250 of the over 480 structures originally marked illegal and condemned for demolition, have been razed. For god's sake, these are structures in the No Development Zone. Logically, either all go or none go.
Housing dreams
It’s not for kicks that thousands had poured onto the streets in Panjim, exactly three years ago, to protest against the Regional Plan 2011. And, hundreds of xit-koddi and fish eating Goenkars aren’t raising anarchic voices against the real estate mayhem across Goa’s countryside at gram sabhas, for nothing. The ‘aam admi’ has figured out the writing on the wall. Anything and everything developed or built around them is priced beyond their means. Goa, is slipping out of the aam admi's hands.
Take for example the 'dream' being sold by the state-owned Goa Housing Board.
A GHB advertisement published in local papers last week screams ‘an opportunity to fulfill the dream of owning a plot’ through an auction of plots at various sites in Porvorim, Farmagudi, Sancoale, Canacona and Rumdamol-Davorlim.
It's indeed a ‘dream’ for many a landless, houseless ‘aam admis’ to own a plot in Porvorim. But, this dream comes at a whopping cost of a minimum of Rs 22.3 lakhs, what with the GHB fixing the 'minimum bid price' for the auction at Rs 10,000 per square metre. It would take any aam admi two lifetimes to make that kind of money, even if he/she were to have a take-home salary that's twice Goa’s per-capita income, and the dream that GHB's selling, will remain exactly that -- a dream -- for the Goan 'aam admi' permanently. So, to whom is the Goa Housing Board selling its ‘dreams’ to? The aam admi?
Forum mess
Despite a cloud over her appointment following criticism from lawyers and representations made to the government, the President of the North Goa District Consumer Forum, Harsha Naik, continues to preside over the forum.
Recently, the Mumbai-based President of the State Commission who chaired the panel that selected Naik, came on his statutory monthly visit to the state but did not look into a single representation that has been made to him on the controversial appointment.
What's worse is that the director of civil supplies who forwarded to the government representations made by the legal fraternity and others and made his own adverse comments against Naik, has now been suddenly transferred and replaced.
Also, dozens of consumers from North Goa who have filed complaints against government utilities or state-owned corporations and boards will now have to travel all the way to South Goa. The reason? Naik represented these government departments and corporations before the forum before her appointment and now cannot sit on judgement in the same matters and in the same forum. Therefore, these matters have now been transferred to the South Goa District Forum. Wonder why the government is dragging its feet to act on the various representations its received against Naik's appointment, particularly when it's such an open-and-shut case. Dal mein kuch kala hai?
No comments:
Post a Comment