Fishers along the coastal belt of Chopdem have expressed shock and anger after the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) granted permission to JRV Projex for the “reconstruction of existing house” on land where, according to government records, no such house ever existed.
Permission was granted for property bearing Survey No 60/20 of Agarwaddo village, Pernem Taluka, despite the Directorate of Settlement and Land Records (DSLR), Pernem, confirming that no structure stood on the land.“I have seen the documents and after having checked the same, if anything is found wrong, necessary action will be taken as per the law,” assured Sachin Dessai, Secretary, GCZMA.
The GCZMA’s 326th meeting held on October 27, 2022, recorded in Case No 3.7: “The Office of the GCZMA is in receipt of an application dated 10/10/2022 from The JRV Projects with regard to Reconstruction of existing Structure on the existing plinth within the property bearing survey No 60/20…”
Further, the minutes read: “Earlier permission was granted... for repair and renovation of existing structure… Now the applicant approached this Office with proposal for reconstruction...”
The decision of the Authority: “The authority after deliberation decided to approve and issue NOC for reconstruction of existing structure on the existing plinth within Survey No 60/20…”
But ground reality tells a different story.
“How can they reconstruct when nothing ever existed?” asked local fisherman Albert Fernandes. “It is a pity that the GCZMA decided to accept, at face value, the contention of the builders that there existed a house. As a matter of convenience, they relied on the Gut Book… instead of checking the DSLR or Google Map records or the CZMP plan… where no records of any construction exist.”
A senior High Court lawyer added, “Drawings on Gut Book do not stand the test of law. The authorities should have checked the DSLR records or at least whether the plinth area is shown in columns A and B in Form I & XIV.”
The permission also raises ecological concerns.
Locals point out that allowing construction in a zone with mangroves poses a serious threat to the eco-sensitive coastal ecosystem and marine life.
Further controversy surrounds the Village Panchayat of Agarwada-Chopdem, which issued Construction Licence No 02/2023-24 on July 10, 2023. “We gave the licence on the basis that there existed a House Number in the property,” said Panchayat Secretary Karishma Moraskar. “Since there is a document that shows HNo 18 exists on the survey number, the licence was issued.”
However, RTI documents accessed by O Heraldo reveal that HNo 18 belongs to a different property entirely — under Survey No 60/12, registered in the name of Chandrakant R Raut from 2016-17 to 2019-20.
On being informed, Moraskar responded: “Oh I see. We were not aware of this… I have to first check whether a wrong house number was given.”
Villagers now believe the documents have been manipulated to benefit private interests.
“I am collecting some more information and will be writing to the vigilance department asking how the Gut Book was manipulated and how the House number belonging to one individual was transferred to another by the Panchayat,” said a local resident on condition of anonymity.
Acting Sarpanch Shilpa Naik, currently filling in for her colleague, distanced herself from the issue: “I am not aware of the problem… The panchayat secretary will be able to answer your questions.”
Attempts to contact JRV Projex were unsuccessful. A worker at the site said: “I do not have anyone’s number to share with you.” An online search for the contact details of JRV Projex yielded the phone numbers of a Noida based company but attempts to get a response proved futile.
Locals point out that allowing construction in a zone with mangroves poses a serious threat to the eco-sensitive coastal ecosystem and marine life.
Further controversy surrounds the Village Panchayat of Agarwada-Chopdem, which issued Construction Licence No 02/2023-24 on July 10, 2023. “We gave the licence on the basis that there existed a House Number in the property,” said Panchayat Secretary Karishma Mo-raskar. “Since there is a document that shows HNo 18 exists on the survey number, the licence was issued.”
However, RTI documents accessed byO Heraldoreveal that HNo 18 belongs to a different property entirely — under Survey No 60/12, registered in the name of Chandrakant R Raut from 2016-17 to 2019-20.
On being informed, Moraskar responded: “Oh I see. We were not aware of this… I have to first check whether a wrong house number was given.”
Villagers now believe the documents have been manipulated to benefit private interests.
“I am collecting some more information and will be writing to the vigilance department asking how the Gut Book was manipulated and how the House number belonging to one individual was transferred to another by the Panchayat,” said a local resident on condition of anonym-ity.
Acting Sarpanch Shilpa Naik, currently filling in for her colleague, distanced herself from the issue: “I am not aware of the problem… The panchayat secretary will be able to answer your questions.”
Attempts to contact JRV Projex were unsuccessful. A worker at the site said: “I do not have anyone’s number to share with you.” An online search for the contact details of JRV Projex yielded the phone numbers of a Noida based company but attempts to get a response proved fu-tile.