Only 24% of CRZ breach plaints led to demolitions in last 5 years

Panaji: Violations of CRZ norms along Goa’s coastal belt have come under focus following the fire at Birch by Romeo Lane earlier this month, in which 25 people were killed. The nightclub was found to have been standing despite gross CRZ violations.

Records of the last five years show that there has been no dearth of complaints before the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA). Over a five-year period, it received 555 complaints, with a majority of 255 from Bardez.However, barely 24% resulted in any sort of demolitions. Only 138 of 555 cases culminated in demolitions, but some were only partial demolitions.Records show that many demolitions could not take place in time because state machinery like police or district administration informed the GCZMA that they were busy with other duties.In the case of a violation by a resort in Sernabatim, in April 2024, the Salcete mamlatdar informed the GCZMA that the demolition was not carried out as “Executive engineer, WD-VI (roads), Fatorda, Margao, informed that they do not possess the required machinery.”Another case in Benaulim saw the demolition not being executed as the Colva police station PI informed the authority through a letter in April 2022 “that their staff was deployed for Sagar Kavach and is unable to make police arrangements”.

In Sernabatim, execution of another demolition order was delayed in Nov 2020 as the Salcete mamlatdar “informed that the panchayat secretary was not present at the site. Further, the Colva PI telephonically informed that his force is deployed at Nessai, Sao Jose De Areal, near railway double tracking side gate.”However, Salcete was still the taluka where the highest number of demolitions were executed, with 105 being carried out over five years.

Fifteen demolitions were not carried out for various reasons, including the violators seeking to appeal in the courts against the demolition orders. The 105 demolitions include six self-demolitions undertaken by violators.Bardez saw only 19 demolitions being executed over a period of five years. Of the total 555 complaints received by the GCZMA, around 250 are still pending, with the rate of disposal being very slow.The GCZMA, however, appears quick to grant approvals to proposals, with around 800 granted over the last five years, with a very low rate of rejection, as per the state records.