PORVORIM: Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao on Friday alleged that massive illegalities and irregularities were happening in the Cuncolim Industrial Estate, where industrial units have encroached into agricultural land.
Raising a supplementary question to a starred question tabled by Quepem MLA Altone D’Costa in the Legislative Assembly, Alemao demanded to know why the government is not ready to appoint a nodal agency to keep a check and stop encroachments, pollution, illegalities, and irregularities.
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According to Alemao, about 12.75 lakh square meters of land was given to various projects by the Investment Promotion and Facilitation Board (IPB) from 2019 to 2023. Huge land is encroached by various industrial units, he said. “If you are agreeing that it is illegal, why are you not acting against it?” he asked.
Quepem MLA Altone D’Costa also raised concerns that the Cuncolim problems may repeat in Naqueri-Quitol industrial areas where land is still lying unused. He said that the industrial units situated in the Cuncolim IDC have encroached adjacent Comunidade and other properties belonging to the locals.
In his reply, Industries Minister Mauvin Godinho said that the Goa-IDC has currently undertaken a Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) survey through the Directorate of Settlement and Land Records (DSLR) in all 23 Industrial Estates situated across the State, to determine the encroachments. He said that so far 80 per cent of the work has been completed and that reports of 18 Industrial Estates were ready. The remaining 20 per cent survey work would be completed soon, he said.
Stating that the government had no record of boundaries of Cuncolim industrial estate, the Minister admitted that some industrial units have committed irregularities and flouted rules besides encroaching on the adjacent properties.
The Minister further said that the government had allowed migrant workers to reside within the Cuncolim IDC to avoid social tension in the town. He added that in the future, the government would designate utility areas and create housing for them.
