Decade-long saga ends as illegal structures on comunidade land at Mungul demolished

A JCB machine tears down the illegal structures on tenanted comunidade land at Mungul.

Photo Credits: Santosh Mirajkar

MARGAO
The long arm of the law has finally caught up with the illegalities in a comunidade tenanted land at Mungul on the Margao-Colva road as the axe finally fell on the illegal commercial establishments on Wednesday, bringing the curtains down on a decade-long saga.

After playing truant on Tuesday, the PWD mobilised both men and machinery on Wednesday, as the South Goa demolition squad dismantled the illegal structures as per the requisition made by the South Goa Administrator of Comunidades.

By evening, the structures were all flattened at the site after the business operators pleaded for an opportunity to take away their belongings. There was no resistance from the party, who claimed to be the tenant and who had received an order from the Salcete Mamlatdar Vimod Dalal, restraining the Administrator from going ahead with the action.

The Comunidade Administrator Ganesh Barve, however, went ahead with the planned demolition, asserting that the Salcete Mamlatdar order pertained to the tenancy issues, while the demolition was being carried out on business establishments in a tenanted property.

The demolition of the structures on the tenanted land comes eight years after the Administrator of Comunidades had ordered the removal of the structures in 2017. The order was based on a complaint lodged by the Comunidade of Margao around 2015 after the party in question, Salvador Fernandes, failed to produce documents in support of the presence of establishments on the tenanted property.

Margao Comunidade Attorney Celestin Noronha, who monitored the demolition drive throughout Wednesday, said there was no action by the comunidade administration against the illegal constructions.

The comunidade president Savio Corriea said what was witnessed at Mungul was the culmination of a 10-year-old saga after the Margao comunidade complained to the authorities in 2015 and the Administrator passed an order for the demolition in 2017. “Last year, we had been trying to get the order implemented, but in vain,” he said.

Corriea acknowledged the support and help extended by South Goa District Collector Egna Cleetus, the two Additional Collectors, the Comunidade Administrator Ganesh Barve and the shareholders of Margao Comunidade.

Asked to pinpoint the reasons behind the delay in razing the structures over the last eight years, Corriea said, “A lot of political interference had come in the way of the demolition, wherein the lawmakers were supporting the lawbreakers. We have surmounted all pressures by carrying out the demolition.”

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'Power' play? Questions surge over utility connections to businesses

MARGAO: The Electricity and Water supply department officials disconnected the utility connections before the structures were razed on the comunidade land at Mungul on Wednesday.

However, the exercise has raised questions regarding the release of power and water connections to these illegal structures by the two departments.

Did the Power and Water supply departments release the connections under the Public Health Act, and whether the provisions of the Public Health Act are applicable to tenanted land and, more so, to commercial establishments? The issue has led to speculation about whether the connections were authorised under political pressure, without adequate inspection or adherence to regulations.

These questions emerged as the earth-moving machinery and the workers razed the illegal structures on the comunidade land at Mungul.

“I guess the party might have obtained the power and water connections for the establishments under the Public Health Act. For, the law does not allow the release of power and water connections, especially for business establishments on tenanted comunidade land,” Margao Comunidade Attorney Celestin Noronha said.

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Rs 2L deposit, Rs 15K rent, Rs 3L in losses: Vendors tell their side of the story

MARGAO: The land in question may be tenanted comunidade land, but that did not stop the party from raking in a moolah by letting the illegal structures run business activities ranging from the sale of tender coconuts, sale of seat covers, eateries, scrap yards, and so on.

As the axe finally fell on the structures, those running the business activities told the media that the party had taken a security deposit, ranging from Rs two lakhs to Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 50,000, depending on the nature of the business. The party collected monthly rent from these business establishments, ranging from Rs 15,000 to Rs 10,000.

A tender coconut vendor claimed that she had deposited Rs two lakhs with the party and was paying a monthly rent amounting to Rs 15,000 for the establishment. Another vendor claimed that he had suffered a loss of around Rs three lakh for raising the structure.

“The party told me that I would have to raise the structure to run the business establishment. I have spent Rs three lakh on the structure, which has been razed down today. Who will compensate me for this loss? I had also placed a security deposit with the party amounting to Rs 50,000,” he added.