We can’t control illegal sale of Communidade land: Goa Govt
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 17 March 2016 19:36 IST
Goa government has expressed helplessness in controlling illegal sale of Communidade land in Goa.
“It is difficult to stop illegal sale of Communidade land. We have no evidence in this regard and the government is only the administrator, not the owner of this land”, deputy chief minister Francisco D’Souza told Goa Assembly today.
Opposition leader Pratapsing Rane had raised a question in this regard, asking how government could allow illegal sale of land at exorbitant prices in Velguem Communidade.
At this, D’Souza gave yet another shock.
He told Rane that Velguem Communidade has no free land for sale, as per the records.
Surprised with the reply, Rane told the House that Velguem Communidade has been selling the land at the rate of Rs 90,000 per sq mts.
“I don’t know which land they are selling. Our records show that Velguem Communidade has no land available for sale”, said the deputy CM.
He provided a list of 214 Communidades, falling in the North, Central and South Zones, out of which 53 Communidades have no free land available.
D’Souza wondered how to control the sale of Communidade land even to the outsiders when it is supposed to be a community land for the benefit of the locals.
“This is the reason we badly need a Regional Plan, which you are still sitting on”, Rane told the government.
Opposing the move of the government to legalise all the illegal structures, Rane observed that most of these structures have come up in the Communidade land.
“With no Regional Plan to control the sale of the land, you will turn whole Goa into a slum”, he said.
D’Souza however contested his claim that the government cannot legalise the encroachments as per the Supreme Court order of Jaspal Singh v/s State of Punjab in 2011.
He admitted that the Supreme Court had ordered all the states not to legalise illegal encroachments.
“But this judgement was related to the panchayat land of Punjab while the Supreme Court order relates to the government land in all the states. It does not apply to Communidades”, he said.
