Environmentalists have raised their concern over the rampant illegal land filling at Caranzalem near the beach hotel. They said activities of filling are taking place for the past many months and continue till date without the knowledge of number of State Government agencies.

A political party has also filed a complaint over the filling of construction debris and destruction of sand dunes which are protected under the Environment Protection Act. The party has demanded that CCP Commissioner be made an accused along with other agencies for looking the other way when the illegalities are taking place in broad daylight.

Vithal Chopdekar, Mayor of the Corporation City of Panjim, said that the land filling is going on for the past 6-7 months but he is unaware of any permissions granted for filling. 

He said, “I will ask the CCP Commissioner to check and find out about the filling of land near the beach”. 

The load of debris is being filled at every weekend at the same site destroying the remains of the sand dunes in the vicinity. The area has already been destroyed with the rising number of the illegal shanties in the nearby areas which are very close to the beach. 

The said portion of the eco fragile area has been overlooked by the authorities concerned. 

Seby Carvalho, a local resident, has demanded that the coastal regulatory authority should come and supervise the entire area and survey it to find out the rampant illegalities near the beach. “It is not only the land filling but much more,” he added. 

Another resident, Paul Fernandes, said, “The land filling has been taking place with the blessings of the political bosses. The said filling will surely cause flooding in the nearby areas”. 

AAP, who had filed the complaint, has said that the Commissioner who is an IAS officer should have promptly acted but inaction on his part hints at his collusion along with the PDA and the GCZMA 

“We have demanded that the Commissioner and others be made co-accused for acts of omission” said Pradeep Padgaonkar, General Secretary of AAP. 

Social activist Aires Rodrigues and Padgaonkar have both warned the authorities to take prompt action or else they would be dragged to court for the failure. 

Like Caranzalem, many other places in Taleigao are reportedly being rampantly filled in view of construction on the banks of fields and low lying areas.