They came, they saw and they instructed the contractor in-charge to submit relevant licences to the Collector’s office, but they could not stop the constructions on a hill in an area under the jurisdiction of Ucassaim-Paliem-Punola Panchayat.
MAPUSA
Acting on a complaint regarding large scale tree felling, unauthorised hill cutting and construction activity, the flying squad attached to the Collector’s office, on Tuesday, visited the area in Ucassaim and took stock of the activity on the hill.
The hill offering a picturesque view of the river and part of Mapusa city has been developed and converted into sub-plots and apparently sold. Some houses with terraces and some with ground plus one constructions have already been built in the area and more constructions are coming up at a fast pace.
“I had raised the issue about the construction activity on the hill in the gram sabha at least a year back. The panchayat stops the work for some time and then the work starts again,” said Annie Matilda Rodrigues, a local from Ucassaim.
According to another local, the hilly area of around 20,000 sq mts was full of fruit-bearing trees and medicinal plants which were all chopped to make way for development of the land. A 3-metre wide pucca road has also been constructed along the hill, giving access to the plots. “We have raised the issue about the tree cutting and construction activity on the hill before the panchayat, but all our efforts have been futile,” said another prominent local from Ucassaim.
Ucassaim sarpanch Gauravi Madgaonkar said she had received a complaint from some villagers and accordingly instructed the secretary to issue stop work order to the contractor. “Earlier also, we received similar complaints and the work in the area was stopped. Now, I have asked the secretary to issue stop work notice,” Madgaonkar said.
Panchayat secretary, Clifton Azavedo, said there was no hill cutting but some construction that was taking place. He said the panchayat had issued licence to the project in 2013 and now, the panchayat had just renewed it.
