A day after pull ing up the State govern ment for ignoring rampant illegal structures along the Baga–Sinquerim stretch, the High Court of Bom bay at Goa on Thursday took strong exception to the failure of government officers to act against per manent structures sprout ing on the sand dunes of Candolim Beach under the guise of temporary ones. Taking serious note of the violations, the division bench comprising Justice Sarang V Kotwal and Justice Ashish S Chavan warned that “henceforth concerned officers will be held respon sible if they fail to stop it at the threshold itself without it being allowed to progress and be completed.” The court observed that permissions for tempo rary wooden structures had been issued by the Goa Coastal Zone Manage ment Authority (GCZMA) and the Candolim Village Panchayat, but there was no oversight mechanism to verify what was actually being built on site. Hearing a PIL writ peti tion filed by the Calangute Constituency Forum, the bench directed both the GCZMA and the Candolim Panchayat to file affidavits within three weeks ex plaining what mechanisms exist to prevent such ille gal, permanent construc tions in the No Develop ment Zone (NDZ). The affidavits must also specify which officers will be held personally responsible if duties are neglected. During the proceedings, the court sought clarity on accountability, asking: “If someone obtains per mission for a temporary wooden structure and pro ceeds to build something totally different in the na ture of a permanent struc ture, then which officers are responsible to stop it at the threshold itself, with out it being allowed to pro gress and be completed?” The bench also took on record a site inspec tion report submitted by the GCZMA. The matter pertains to an illegal structure at Candolim, where the court has repeatedly expressed alarm at the authorities’ inaction.
Earlier, the High Court had recorded its “shock and horror” over the GCZMA’s failure to act on its own show-cause no tice and stop-work order issued in December 2022 against three illegal structures barely 20 metres from the seashore. Despite the order, the court noted, “the owners of the struc tures continued construction activities with impunity.” Adv Rohit Bras de Sa appeared for the Calangute Constit uency Forum, while Additional Government Advocate Deep Shirodkar and Adv Nikita Nadkarni represented the State government and the Candolim Village Panchayat, respectively. The court’s warning comes a day after it issued notices to 13 government authorities, including the TCP Depart ment, Tourism Department, GCZMA, and local panchayats, for failing to clear illegal constructions along the Baga–Sin querim coastal belt and for not restoring the beaches to their natural condition. The High Court’s twin interventions this week under score mounting judicial frustration over the State’s contin ued neglect and selective enforcement in protecting Goa’s coastline
