Team Herald
MARGAO: Concerned citizens have served the Margao Municipal Council with a legal notice, urging it to refrain from granting permission for fairs and expositions to be held on land originally acquired for parking purposes.
Local resident Savio Joao Maria Dias, represented by an advocate, has submitted the legal notice highlighting the stretch from the
Old Market Circle to the KTC bus stand, which
was specifically acquired for parking.
“However, it appears that the civic body has disregarded the intended purpose of the land acquisition and has allowed its use for various activities, including leasing the land for private exhibitions, stalls, and
fairs to generate revenue,” said the notice.
The petitioner argued that the civic body’s resolution has undermined the essential public purpose of the land acquisition for parking, favouring profit and benefiting a select few over the larger public interest, which is deemed unconstitutional and lacking good faith.
The petitioner further claimed that the exhibitions and fairs held on the
acquired land attract large crowds, leading to increased congestion in the town, unauthorized parking on public roads, indiscriminate littering, encroachment on footpaths, and various types of pollution throughout the day.
Asserting that the resolution allowing exhibitions and fairs on the acquired land appears to be a
deception played on the general public, particularly farmers, the petitioner sought to have it set aside and invalidated.
The demands outlined in the legal notice include suspending and cancelling the extra-legal resolution number 4931 passed by the civic body, revoking all leases, permissions, and licenses granted for activities on the acquired property, and initiating suitable planning and development for public parking on the acquired land.
