Therefore moving ahead with its plans, the MPT through its legal advisor sent a legal notice to the Chief Officer of the Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) on January 15, 2009. The legal advisor of MPT had pointed out the fact that the mushrooming of hutments at Vasco bay is causing impediments to the development plans of MPT.
In the legal notice, attention was sought from the MMC under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) seeking action against the structures under the CRZ Act. In the case of Khariwado demolition, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed in 1998, which stated that the MPT had carried out a survey of the area in the year 1994 and had listed 194 hutments while other structures increased consequent to the setting up of the temporary fishing jetty adjacent to berth number 11. However, it was agreed that 194 structures would be rehabilitated along with the fishing jetty.
Later a writ petition was also filed by the MPT in the year 2009 in which it had stated that the 360 odd structures lie within 50 meters from the high tide line and under the provision of the major port trust act, the area from 50 meters of high tide line falls under MPT’s boundary line. It was also pointed out by the MPT that the structures at Khariwado lie under category III of CRZ and this category has been earmarked as a ‘No Development Zone’ and the structures at Khariwado are a violation under CRZ rules. In its writ petition filed by Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) in the High Court, it made MMC a party for not acting against the illegal structures.
Along with the petition, a public notice was also issued by the Estate Officer of the MPT on December 12, 2009. Following that, the MMC first issued show cause notices to 363 structures and later a demolition notice. Finally, 63 structures were demolished in the month of March 2011 at Khariwado under heavy police protection while others managed to obtain a stay from the administrative tribunal. The case went on for over two years and the stay got vacated last year and since then the sword of demolition lies on them.
It’s not that the then councillors of the MMC did nothing as the issue of Khariwado demolition was raised by the then Councillors of the Mormugao Municipal Council in its meeting held on November 26, 2010 and had even suggested that the government should move an ordinance similar to the one moved in order to save a hotel in North Goa and safeguard the houses of fishermen along the Khariwado shore.
Almost four years have passed since the new government came to power, but the issue is still pending without any results. “As we were promised by the former government that from MPT berth number 11 to Hindu crematorium, no structures will be touched but there was nothing in writing given to us. Even the then opposition leader, Manohar Parrikar who is the present Defence Minister of the country had promised that the issue would be resolved and no structures would be demolished. Till date the assurances given to us are only orally and not in black and white which makes us more scared,” said Custodio D’ Souza, president of the Old Cross fishing canoe owners cooperative society.
Meanwhile, commenting on the issue of structures at Khariwado, the new Chairman of Mormugao Port Trust, I Jeyakumar said, “Although the final outcome of the case filed on Khariwado structures came in our favour as the court vacated the stay granted to remaining structures which were left out from demolition, the MPT now wants to settle the issue amicably. We cannot displace the fishermen staying at Khariwado overnight. We can’t tell them to leave. Therefore, we need a practical solution to the issue that we have decided and have even stated the process to discuss the issue with the state government and surely we will take the local government and locals into confidence to arrive at an amicable solution.”
