More CRZ violations along rivers Sal, Mandovi (ToI)

TNN | May 5, 2014, 12.49 AM IST
PANAJI: Violations of Coastal Zone Regulations 2011 on river banks are increasing and the ports administration department has recently found three such illegalities along the River Sal in Cavelossim and River Mandovi.

The occupant of a small property near the Cavelossim ferry point has allegedly extended by a metre into the River Sal along a 22.30m stretch on the bank beyond the original bund in his property.

The inspection in Cavelossim was carried out by a team of ports administration and health department officials recently at the site of the original rubble bund under survey no 54/1, which has been extended into the river by constructing an illegal retaining wall.

The inspection led to the finding of another illegal structure by a local person. The river has been encroached through a rubble bund to erect a shed of GI pipes covered with zinc sheets for the roof at the other side, barely a few metres north of the first site.

The owner claimed that he had constructed the shed in his own property, but it is a CRZ violation on the river bank.

This adds to the list of 25-odd cases, which the ports administration department with a jurisdiction in navigable areas under various ports had acted upon, but all cases are pending for many years in the courts at various rungs of the judiciary.

"We issue notices for demolition, but the parties move the courts for a stay," a ports administration official said.

In the first case, the one metre extension along the 22-metre stretch is allegedly done by a foreign national. Sewage and waste water is being released into the river through a pipe jutting out of the retaining wall, a complaint by Shweta Pereira, a resident of Cavelossim has alleged.

The marine police had also seized a boat without any registration number berthed to the retaining wall after a complaint.

In the other case at Ribandar, pavers have been allegedly laid after reclaiming a strip of land on the river bank of Mandovi in violation of CRZ 2011. The ports administration department issued a show cause notice to a small showroom on the river bank, but the proprietor has denied the charge.

When asked about the delay in initiating action, a department official stated that all three matters have been referred to directorate of settlement and land records to confirm the encroachments.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/More-CRZ-violations-along-rivers-Sal-Mandovi/articleshow/34650881.cms