Demolition: HC gives man 4 weeks to approach NGT

PANAJI: The high court of Bombay at Goa has granted a property owner in Ribandar four weeks' time, till November 7, to approach the national green tribunal (NGT) regarding a demolition order passed by Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) of an additional floor built illegally on the bank of the Chimbel creek.

The aggrieved party had approached the high court as GCZMA had issued a notice for demolition, giving him just three days' time. The applicant, Madan Sawant, had allegedly cut the mangroves in the Chimbel creek, in violation of coastal regulations zone (CRZ) notification 2011, to construct a bungalow, social activist, Kashinath Shetye and others had complained.

The division bench observed that they were granting Sawant, urgent ad-interim relief only for the limited reason that GCZMA had allowed him less than three days' time to comply with an order of demolition.

On inspection, GCZMA found that Sawant had built a residential house along the bank of Chimbel tidal creek, barely 12m from the high tide line. While the owner had built the house based on approvals from GCZMA, an additional floor was built while the construction plan was still pending with the town and country planning department, authorities found. The stilt parking had also been converted into five rooms, three with independent entry and exit facility from the outside.