Team Herald
PANJIM: Reacting to the petition filed by two children over Corporation of City of Panjim (CCP) failing to initiate action against the illegal kiosks in the children’s park, Mayor Surendra Furtado has said that he would wait for the court order before taking any decision.
“The CCP will wait until the High Court order comes. The Corporation had already formed a committee as per the guidelines of the Supreme Court of India to demarcate hawking zones and we have already identified some sites. Until the places are finalised, the CCP had allocated them the places temporarily” Furtado said.
In 2008 order, the High Court had directed that “if any gaddas/ handcarts are encroaching on the public roads, streets or footpaths, the corporation has to act in accordance with the law and take action within three months.”
Several kiosks in the State were removed after the High Court order, resulting in the footpaths being kept free for pedestrians.
The court had then also ordered that the civic bodies should form enforcement squad which will clear all the footpaths, within the city limits from all encroachments including unauthorized hawkers, squatters or repairers and other persons.
Meanwhile, two Panjim resident children have approached the High Court of Bombay at Goa to prosecute the CCP for contempt after it failed to initiate action against the illegal kiosks in the children’s park. The petitioners, who are minors, have filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) before the HC claiming that CCP can be sued for contempt of court for violating the order.
