416 ILLEGAL STRUCTURES AT DESTORRO, BAINA AND KATEM BAINA IN VASCO

VASCO: The Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) on Thursday told the high court of Bombay at Goa that it had identified 416 illegal structures at Destorro, Baina and Katem Baina in Vasco.  During the hearing of a petition filed by the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT), MMC's advocate S D Padiyar said that the civic body has identified 416 illegal. The MMC would now issue demolition notices against these structures, he told the court.

When a division bench comprising Justice S C Dharmadhikari and Justice F M Reis inquired as to whether the structures fall within the jurisdiction of MPT or MMC, Padiyar replied that since the structures are within 50 m of the high tide line, they fall within the jurisdiction of Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA).

The bench then said that the MMC need not issue any showcause notices as it is not within its jurisdiction. The state government should go ahead with the demolitions of these 416 structures without issuing any notices against them, the bench observed. On a query made by the bench as to how many of these structures belong to fishermen, advocate general Subhodh Kantak said that the government would investigate this issue and accordingly inform the court during the next hearing.

In another petition filed by the MPT, the AG told the court that he would file a detailed affidavit on the next date of hearing giving the status of the appeals filed against the showcause notices issued to illegal structures at Khariawada in Vasco.