TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Salcete leads the talukas in the number of hill cutting complaints received by the Revenue and the Town and Country Planning authorities in the last 2 years.
According to replies given to the Goa assembly during questions hour, 42 complaints were received from Salcete, of which 22 violators were issued show cause cum stop work orders while in the remaining 20 cases, the authorities felt there was no need to issue show cause notices. These include case in Margao’s Pajifond, Vidyanagar, Borda and near the railway flyover bridge.
During the same period no cases were reported from Mormugao and Dharbandora, while one case each has been reported from Canacona and Sanguem. 11 cases were traced to Ponda, of which FIRs were lodged in eight cases and in other cases stop work orders have been issued or the police have been directed to act. In Quepem there were 7 cases reported, while 8 cases in Tiswadi, nine cases in Bicholim, eight cases in Sattari and seven complaints were filed in Bardez respectively.
The issue of hill cutting has been in the forefront ever since the anti-regional Plan agitation of 2007. However, authorities have been giving permission under section 17-A of the Town and Country Planning Act. Activists however feel that they are fighting a losing battle, after the massive protests against the Regional Plan 2011 with permissions for the projects that they were opposing being granted right under their noses and the authorities not making a big deal about it taking advantage of an apathetic public. The issue was raised by Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte who raised concerns about hill cutting in his constituency.
