NGO objects to Regularisation of unauthorised Structures & Encroachment Bill

Panaji| Saturday Oct 3, 2015 IST

The United Goan Foundation, an NGO, today claimed that Goa government is planning to boring Regularisation of Unauthorised Structures and Encroachment Bill which, if passed, will  supersede many other Acts.

Addressing a news conference here, Foundation secretary Avinash Tavares said the act titled Regularisation of Unauthorised Structures and Encroachment Bill 2015 would supersede Land Revenue Code, the Code of Communidades, the Town and Country Planning Act of 1974, the Municipalities Act and the Goa Panchayati Raj Act.

He said, "According to draft copy of the bill any structures which are constructed without any due permission on land belonging to Communidade, government on land reserved as open space and on land belonging to other individual either with or without consent shall be considered. This includes even those illegal structures which are built on land belonging to Forest Department including Wildlife Sanctuaries, eco-sensitive Coastal Regulation Zone areas, road widening or setback areas and even designated or notified No Development Zones on case to case basis.

"Clause 15 of the bill says the proposed legislation would have overriding powers not withstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, inlcuding TCP, Regional Plan, Panchayat Raj Act, Municipality Act and Land Revenue Code," he said and pointed the act would allow regularisation on payment of penalty and rent for the number of years encroached but nowhere had the provision been made for payment to be made to the land looser, the original owner of the land.

He started that Supreme Court has passed a judgement in 2011 against illegal encroachment on Commons (Communidade land) and Public land, wherein it stated that "Regularising such illegalities must not be permitted because it (Common and public land) is Gram Sabha land which must be kept for the common use of village... We cannot allow the common interests of the villagers to suffer merely because the authorised occupation has subsisted for many years."

Stating that UGF would not allow any act to be passed by the government which would destroy identity and environment of Goa, if the bill was introduced in the Assembly, the UGF would approach courts against the government and would also agitate on the streets against the law, he added. UNI AKM SS SB PR2100.

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