It appears that a demolition drive at Baina has become a routine operation for the state administration. After successfully razing 157 structures on September 26th the state has now laid down plans and has started making preparations to demolish 55 more illegal structures located near Salgaonkar quarters at Baina in Vasco. The date is fixed for Friday, September 18th.
Surprisingly, officials of the Taluka have claimed that they have received no such information. However, highly placed sourced have confirmed that the process of seeking police protection as well as other allied services required for the process has already begun since Monday.
Investigations reveal that the concerned officials from the state administration have also completed the task of marking all 55 structures but the people who dwell in these structures have no clue about the forthcoming demolition.
Inquiries reveal that the Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC), in the year 2012 issued notices to about 72 illegal structures located in the vicinity of the Basaveshwara Temple at Baina. Action was initiated following a request from the new owner of the property who bought the piece of land belonging to the church (around 932 sq mtrs). Hence, the new owner asked the administration to take action against all the illegal structures. Out of 72, 30 of these structures lie on the land owned by the new owner while the rest exist on the land belonging to the MMC.
Following the notice, residents approached the administrative tribunal and the case went on till Feb 2013. The tribunal dismissed the plea made by the residents. Immediately, the residents moved their plea to the Urban Development Minister with the belief that they would get some relief but they didn’t know that a circular was issued by the DMA citing the judgment of the High Court dated December 4, 2012.
Having no idea that the UD minister has no power to pass any order after the decision of the tribunal, the residents made no move and thus have to face the axe of demolition.
