Goa
SHOCKING: Calangute Panchayat grants hotel license to CRZ structure it had ordered to be demolished?
CALANGUTE, GOA: In a shocking instance of corruption and criminal manipulation of official land and property records, the Calangute Village Panchayat (North Goa) has issued a restaurant license (or NOC for running restaurant business) to the very same structure it had ordered to be demolished for CRZ (Coastal Regulation Zone) violations, 14 months earlier.
According to documents accessed by IndyaTv.in, the Calangute Panchayat had issued a notice for demolition of the structure, dated 22nd March 2021 and signed by the Calangute VP secretary Raghuvir D. Bagkar, revoking construction licenses granted earlier in the year 2019 for House No. 5/154 situated in Survey No. 176/16-B.
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The present or current structure of House No. 5/154 in Survey No. 176/16-B and and 176/25-A is owned by Delhi-based M/s Convention Hotels Pvt Ltd and is in complete violation of CRZ rules, which prohibit any construction or commercial activity on the beach within 200 meters of the High Tide Line.
Sources claimed M/s Convention Hotels Pvt Ltd sold the property to a Delhi-based businessman Rajiv Kumar alias Rajeev Arora for a exorbitant amount, details of which were never furnished to the authorities.
A basic permission for repairs was issued to the orginal owners, who then sold off the property at an astronomical mark up to an outstation buyer.
The new buyer dug deep trenches and erected a new foundation on the property, also encroaching on to neighbouring property. All this new construction took place during the peak of the first wave of the Covid pandemic in March to May 2020. The Calangute panchayat, in spite of several complaints turned a blind eye to the illegal construction activity by the Delhi-based businessman and his coterie of land-grabbers.
According to applicable laws, in case of new construction (which is anyway prohibited in CRZ and NDZ zones), if an owner wishes to redevelop and rebuild an existing structure, a layoff of a minimum of 3 meters must be kept on all sides for emergency services.
The notice dated 22nd March 2021 issued by the Calangute VP instructed M/s Convention Hotels Pvt Ltd – owned by a Delhi-based businessman Rama Arora alias Rajiv Kumar alias Rajeev Arora to demolish the structure within 15 days, failing which the Panchayat would initiate the demolition process on its own.
According to documents viewed by IndyaTv.in, the Calangute VP’s demolition order was issued under Section 66(4) of the Goa Panchayat Act, 1994 with Ref. No. VP/Cal/F-20/20-21/5037 and dated 23.03.2021, revoking the renewal of construction licence bearing Ref. No.VP/Cal/F-13/18-19/L-84/5326, dated 07.03.2019.
However, due to the Covid wave that struck Goa and the rest of the country in April-May last year, the structure was not demolished by the Panchayat. A local politician was also involved in stalling the demolition process, sources told this reporter.
Further, M/s Convention Hotels Pvt Ltd approached the Director of Panchayats via Panchayat Appeal No. 154/2021, appealing against the demolition order, but no stay or restraining orders were issued in favor of the the appellant and the demolition order of the Panchayat stands valid and executable till date.
For reasons best known to itself, the Calangute Panchayat did not take any further action in the matter, even though 14 months elapsed since it ordered the illegal structure to be demolished.
We have accessed complaints filed with the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) and the NGPDA, whose officials were taken good care of by the new non-Goan buyers.
Attempts to contact Town and Country Planning (TCP) Minister Vishwajit Rane for his comments regarding this illegal construction on CRZ land, proved futile and Rane did not respond to SMS and WhatsApp messages sent on his official mobile number.
Sources revealed, a Panchayat member from Madda vaddo, Francis Rodrigues, an ex Sarpanch was instrumental in obtaining the NOC for the structure to function as a restaurant.
Rodrigues along with the Panchayat Secretary and present Sarpanch are responsible for the corruption in the Panchayat, alleged a social worker Minakshi Shinde.
This is the same disputed structure owned by the Delhi businessman Rajiv Arora alias Rama Arora which was in the news last year for the wrong reasons.
While the Calangute Panchayat has not acted on its own demolition order of March 2021 on a structure which is in blatant violation of CRZ norms, surprisingly, via an outward register entry dated 6th May this year, it issued an NOC to M/s Convention Hotels Pvt Ltd and Rama Arora alias Rajiv Kumar to carry on restaurant business on the premises.
Sources alleged that along with Francis Rodrigues, the Panchayat Secretary and Sarpanch, even the local MLA was instrumental in obtaining the NOC for the illegal structure, after a huge sum of money exchanged hands.
Neither Rodrigues nor the Panchayat officials were available for comment at the time of filing this report.