Delhi builder illegally cuts down protected hillock, fells trees at B Arradi, Parra in North Goa

MAPUSA: Almost 70 to 80 per cent of a large hillock was illegally cut down by a Delhi builder at B Arradi,  Parra, in North Goa, before locals intervened and stopped the hill cutting work on Monday.

Heavy machinery and a JCB were deployed by the builder Harkirat Singh and his employees to cut down the hill, which had an average height of nearly 8 to 9 feet or about 2.5 to 3 meters.

Several old trees were also felled by the construction workers, which locals claim are without permission and illegal.

According to photographs made available by social activist and former panch member of the locality, Benedict D’souza, the builder had obtained permission from the Town and Country Planning department (TCP) and the Parra Panchayat to build two villas or bungalows on the property.

But the permissions do not say anything about the hill-cutting and levelling of the earth. Locals alleged the permissions were obtained by bribing the Panchayat members and were completely illegal.

Panchayat officials are hand-in-glove with the builder and cutting down of a huge hillock could not have happened if Panchayat members were alert and pro-active, said Gina Fernandes, a resident from the neighbouring ward.

An eye-witness said, even the boundary demarcation marker stone was removed from the communidade property by the Delhi-based builder Harkirat Singh who has purchased the property from a local Parra resident.

According to D’souza, who was instrumental in putting a stop to the illegal hill-cutting using JCB machines and excavators, “the builder had obtained permission for constructing two villas on the premises. But nowhere in the documents did it mention hill cutting or digging up of earth on a gradient. Further the builder had encroached into the property of the neighbouring owner, on the pretext of construction a boundary fencing wall. The workers on the spot told us they were constructing a retaining wall, but were actually levelling a hill-slope, which was not mentioned in the documents. You cannot dig up a hill to construct a retaining wall and encroach on neighbouring property in the process,” D’souza said.

The local informed the local police, who arrived on the spot and stopped the hill cutting and other construction activity, till the builder could produce the required documents permitting him to level the hillock.

Singh or his representatives were not available for comment.