MARGAO: The Margao Municipal Council has decided to expedite the process of protecting its properties, many of which are yet to be brought under the custody of the civic body.
It may be recalled that a few months ago, the previous Chief Officer Rohit Kadam had constituted a team of officials to verify the property documents and carry out the inspections of the municipal properties, including the 49 open spaces donated wholly or partly to the civic body. Out of these 49, there are many properties located at a prime location and there is a fear of encroachment by squatters. Reacting to the issue, MMC Chairperson Damodar Shirodkar said that the civic body will not tolerate encroachment of municipal land and will not hesitate to move to the court to initiate action.
“We have appointed a person with legal knowledge about the issue and have already prepared a list of properties which need urgent attention. The first thing the civic body will do is to demarcate its properties,” said Shirodkar.
Former chairperson Savio Coutinho claimed that the MMC has few or no records of the properties it owns. “Several open spaces gifted to the Council stand encroached upon. The land acquired for the pickup stand at Malbhat is seen as a very big plot on the plan, but on site, it has been encroached upon, and liberally given for various other purposes,” he alleged.
