Morjim and Mandrem are just two out of 45 villages in Pernem taluka facing a quantum of illegalities. Morjim is also called ‘Little Russia’ due to the sheer number of Russians living there while Mandrem is also getting there. Complaints about rampant illegalities in the villages have been piling up at the offices of various government authorities but none of them have been patient enough to address these complaints.
Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has been elected as the MLA of Mandrem for the third consecutive term now after previously failing on two occasions. He has seen the state of the village deteriorate over the past quarter century with his own eyes and yet these illegalities continue to take place.
At least 90 percent of structures and establishments in Morjim and Madrem are illegal and locals have, on many occasions taken to the streets demanding action from the law enforcing agencies against these issues occurring in Parsekar’s backyard. The CM has, in fact admitted that there are rampant illegal bars and shacks in his constituency, running on false NOC’s and fraudulent permissions.
According to locals and the panchayat, there are over 500 illegal structures in the twin villages. The entire coastal stretch, measuring 9km has at least 100 structures violating the 200 metre high tide line of the Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) Act and yet they continue to flourish. Some structures have even shifted to the hills facing the beach.
In Morjim, there are 50 beach facing commercial establishments that are in violation of the CRZ rules. Mandrem also has the same number of illegal structures in operation on the coast.
The illegal structures compromise hotels, clubs, beach cottages, restaurants etc. The illegalities start with the forged permission from the village panchayat and with that, the developer avails of electricity and water facilities.
Panchayat officials, while speaking to Herald confirmed that these structures violate the CRZ Act do not have their permission and the certificates produced in court are bogus. They have no inward and outward number in the panchayat office.
One such case came up recently in the North Goa District Court in Mapusa where property owner Gunaji Gawade who was fighting against an illegal structure in his properly showed a licence in the High Court and the reason why the case was dismissed. “The panchayat had not issued a licence. There are no records found about such permissions given in my property. I got to know only after I inquired,” Gawade said.
Vasant Shetgaonkar, a senior citizen who heads the NGO called ‘Morjicho Ekvott’ has blamed the villagers for the disaster of the village and for selling property and giving their business to outsiders to operate. “We cannot put the blame solely on outsiders. Of course they operate illegal businesses and are running the peace of the village, but we have to question who is responsible for that. Our own villagers are at fault here. They need to understand the seriousness of this at least now and make some effort to control the uncontrolled trade which has put our village in bad light,” he said.
Giridhar Dawade, a resident of Girikarwada said, “I am one of the affected people. They have forged documents, established their business and are happily operating their business without any fear. Even in court my case was dismissed as the bogus permission submitted by the other party was considered. I am pursuing this further.”
Advocate Prasad Shapurkar, a resident of Mandrem who is the legal counsel for the Morjim Village Panchayat has revealed the modus operandi of the illegal businesses and how by bypassing the authorities, these structures have come up on the coast. “It all begins with the no objection certificate (NOC) given by the village panchayat. With that, the person takes an electricity and water connection. But as far as I know, none of these NOCs are valid,” he asserted.
He informed that the bogus certificates have been produced by developers in court and it was proved in one of the cases. Hotel ‘Blue Wave’ in Morjim was demolished last year after the National Green Tribunal in Delhi gave orders for it to be razed. The structure, year after year managed to escape demolition due to fake certificates. The panchayat remained firm on their stand and managed to get the structure demolished, Shapurkar explained.
The Mamlatdar of Pernem, Deputy Collector and Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority and village panchayats all turned a blind eye.
“All the government departments are equally responsible for the disaster in the coastal villages. Until someone complains, they don’t bother to move. Even after complaining, they behave weirdly,” Shapurkar opined.
Pravin Dhumaskar, a local shack operator noted that it takes an ambulance three hours and the police two hours to reach Morjim in case of any emergency. “If this is the status of affairs, what more can we expect from the authorities to act against these illegalities,” Dhumaskar questioned.
