Illegal structure by MLA's 'kin' faces axe 19 Jul 2008, 0426 hrs IST,TNN PANAJI: An illegal structure involving the reclamation of land and reportedly belonging to Lepoldina Silveira, mother of St Andre MLA Francis Silveira, is coming under the axe.
Additional collector Swapnil Naik has ordered clearing of the 'illegal reclamation of land, filling of mud and rubble and encroachment along Zuari river' involving an area of around 1,500 sq m. Although the order was due to be executed on July 16, 2008, the police and the PWD pleaded for more time claiming that the period was too short to organise the necessary resources for the operation. Naik said the order will now be executed next week. The additional collector had earlier issued notice to eight persons whose names figure in the survey papers of the land. Four of them denied involvement in the encroachment while two others are out of Goa. The rest, including Leopoldina Silveira, have accepted the notices but not replied. Naik has ordered the Tiswadi deputy collector and mamlatdar to be "physically present at the site to effectively carry out the demolition and to meet any untoward incident which may create law and order problem". He also ordered a joint inspection of the site at least 48 hours before the operation by various authorities, including the PWD to "clearly identify and mark the area for the operation". The order follows written directions to the additional collector by the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority. The GCZMA member secretary issued the order on June 23, 2008, directing the additional collector to implement it. Confirming they had issued the order, sources in the GCZMA said the Authority did not know who the encroached upon land belonged to. In a related development, the GCZMA on Thursday decided to empower the deputy and additional collectors to take suo moto action against CRZ violations in Goa, which number around 4000. While 2500 CRZ violations are in the coastal areas, about 1400 violations are in the riverine belt, sources said. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Goa/Illegal_structure_by_MLAs_kin_fac es_axe/articleshow/3252297.cms ~(^^)~ Avelino