TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: Three years after all construction activities came to a halt upon orders of the High Court, Varca Panchayat is now bracing up to open the process of issuing construction licences.
Thanks to a recent High Court order relaxing the ban on constructions, the Varca village has decided to start the exercise of issuing the construction licenses, beginning from next week.
Around 102 applications – including 68 applications for dwelling units and compound walls — have been pending with the Varca Panchayat ever since the high court ban on constructions in certain villages, defaulting in putting garbage disposal mechanism in place. In fact, Varca along with Benaulim and Colva Panchayats were banned from issuing construction licenses as per the high court order. While there’s been a blanket ban on Varca and Benaulim Panchaayts, the court order had only banned issuance of licenses for multi-dwelling units in the coastal village of Colva.
Says Varca Sarpanch Charlton Lourenco: “The recent High Court order will certainly bring relief to the villagers planning to build houses or compound walls. The court has relaxed the ban in respect of Varca after the village put in place a mechanism to tackle both wet and dry waste in our village jurisdiction. The Panchayat had initiated the process to tackle the waste during the tenure of my predecessor Luiza Rodrigues and the exercise continues till date”
Replying to a question, Charlton, however, said that the Panchayat is authorised to issue construction licenses only for four or less units. As per the high court order, the Panchayats are required to obtain nod from the Goa State Pollution Control Board for multi-dwelling units beyond four units. “We have put a plan in place, wherein the parties will be issued letters to visit the Panchayat in connection with their applications for construction licenses. Applications complying with the rules and regulations will be disposed off accordingly by the Panchayat”, he added.
Replying to another question, the Sarpanch said the Panchayat body was eager to dispose off the applications pending since the last three years, but the non-availability of a full time secretary has adversely affected the Panchayat functioning. “Varca village does not have a full time Panchayat secretary for the moment. The incumbent secretary is holding additional charge of Colva. Things cannot be expedited without a full-time Panchayat secretary”, he added.
Varca Sarpanch said that the recent High Court order would bring relief to the villagers planning to build houses or compound walls. The court has relaxed the ban in respect of Varca after the village put in place a mechanism to tackle both wet and dry waste in our village jurisdiction.
