Goemkarponn desk
PANAJI: On the day of St Xavier feast, the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department said it has written to the Old Goa Panchayat stating that the technical clearance given to the structure has been revoked and that they should take legal action to demolish the said structure.
“This issue made a lot of Goans unhappy, and I had told them that I would study the matter and take action. I studied the matter, took legal opinion, and immediately revoked the technical clearance granted to the said project,” said TCP Minister Chandrakant Kavlekar.
He further said that his department has again issued an order asking the Old Goa Panchayat to take legal action and demolish the controversial structure.
“I urge the Panchayat authorities to immediately take action and demolish the said structure,” he said
In its meeting, the Old Goa Panchayat had resolved to issue a stop-work order to the controversial construction of the bungalow in the world heritage site buffer zone.
The construction of the bungalow had been undertaken by a fashion designer who is a BJP functionary in Mumbai. Agitated over the State government’s inaction against the construction of a bungalow in the heritage precinct of Old Goa, the citizens from all parts of Goa and of all ages are currently on hunger strike.
CRZ and archaeological survey documents describe the land where the illegal structure has been built as orchard property.
On Tuesday, the Minister for Town and Country Planning issued an order revoking permissions to reconstruct a house at the Old Goa heritage zone.
The order came after protests from across Goa against destroying the heritage zone, close to the St Cajetan Church in Old Goa.
While the permission has been revoked, Goa now wants an FIR registered against the owner Jose Maria de Gouveia Pinto and Maria Lizette de Abreu e Gouveia Pinto, Manish Munot and Suvarna Suraj Lotlikar, and so also teh officials of Town and Country Planning for forgery, manipulation and corruption.
The government order clearly states that the existing structure was small (a hut), and one shown on the plan was mammoth size.
Secondly, the order also says that despite selling the property to Manish Munot and Suvarna Suraj Lotlikar, the owners Jose Maria de Gouveia Pinto and Maria Lizette de Abreu e Gouveia Pinto continued to get permissions in their name.
Third, Director (Monuments-If), Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi vide their letter did 03/02/2020 had granted the approval only for taking up *repair to an existing residential house.” with a condition at Sr. No, 11 as “the permission does not cover reconstruction”.
The TCP now needs to file an FIR to bring the culprits to books in view of the above.
