Team Herald
PANJIM: The High Court of Bombay at Goa has directed the authorities to clear all construction debris and garbage dumped along the Panjim-Old Goa-Ponda bypass road. The directions came in response to a contempt petition filed by Adv Aires Rodrigues alleging inaction of the authorities on the issue.
During the hearing, Rodrigues drew the attention of the court to the continued dumping of garbage and debris while also alleging that waste was being pushed into low-lying fields and mangroves.
The contempt petition pointed out that in 2007 a Public Interest Litigation had been filed over the rampant dumping of building debris along the road stretch and that taking note of this; various orders were passed by the High Court. So also, in the Minutes of Order submitted by the then Goa government, it had undertaken to continue and take to its logical conclusion investigations into the dumping of construction debris on the bypass road.
“It is very anguishing that it was almost a decade and over the years the Goa government has done nothing to comply with the solemn undertaking given to the High Court on June 26, 2008. The malafide conduct of the authorities amounts to rank disobedience to the orders of the Court. The debris and garbage has continued to be dumped unabated along the same stretch of the bypass with the situation getting bad to worse by the day having now reached a point of crisis,” the petitioner had argued seeking Court’s intervention and directions to the authorities.
The Court will hear the matter next on January 23.
