Team Herald
PANJIM: The Old Goa heritage area may be one of Goa’s most treasured historical zones, but getting illegal encroachments removed from the UNESCO World Heritage Site is proving more difficult than it should be.
The Se Old Goa Village Panchayat has stated in the High Court that it has issued show-cause notices to the occupants of unauthorised structures and halted commercial activities, but the petitioner has disputed the local body’s claim, asserting that such activities continue unabated.
The High Court of Bombay at Goa has now directed the village panchayat to submit an affidavit-in-reply within a week.
The public interest litigation (PIL) writ petition, filed by John Baptista Mascarenhas, seeks action against illegal encroachments and commercial activities in the prohibited zones surrounding the world heritage monuments at Old Goa.
During the hearing, the village panchayat’s counsel, Sahish Mahambrey, informed the Court that notices had been served to the occupants of unauthorised structures, instructing them to immediately cease all unauthorised activities. He further claimed that commercial activities had been stopped.
However, the petitioner’s counsel, Adv Parag Wagle, contested this statement, maintaining that commercial operations were still ongoing from these premises.
A division bench comprising Justice M S Karnik and Justice Nivedita P Mehta noted that the petitioner’s concerns would be addressed after the village panchayat files its affidavit-in-reply, accompanied by an action-taken report, within the stipulated time frame.
Previously, a survey report by the Tiswadi Mamlatdar identified 54 illegal structures within the prohibited areas at Old Goa, some of which were reportedly being used for commercial purposes.
The report also highlighted that the Se Old Goa Village Panchayat had not yet acted against these violations. Additionally, the Panjim Deputy Collector and Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) had issued show-cause notices to all encroachers.
The matter is scheduled for further hearing on January 27.