Read ToI:
PANAJI: Former Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) chairman Praveen Agarwal has alleged
in separate letters to the chief vigilance commissioner (CVC) and secretary,
Union shipping ministry, that officials of the Goa government have connived
with private five-star hoteliers to encroach on MPT land within 50 yards of the
high tide line (HTL).
The letters state that so far six hotels have been allowed to squat on MPT
property.
"This violates the government of India notification which states that any
property within 50 yards of HTL which does not belong to private persons as on
Goa's liberation day, December 19, 1961, should belong to MPT,'' the letters
add.
Agarwal shot off the letters dated December 5, 2010, to CVC P J Thomas and
Union ministry of shipping secretary K Mohandas in response to chief minister
Digambar Kamat's letter to the prime minister and Union minister of shipping.
Kamat had alleged that MPT's massive developmental activities were being done
without any attention to the fallout on the fragile environment of Goa; that
MPT's operations would affect tourism activities in the state; and that people
and state government are against the visions and plans of MPT to implement
infrastructure projects.
"Over the years, private parties and state government officials have connived
to take away/transfer various lands belonging to MPT within 50 yards of the
HTL. In the process, MPT has lost lands having present market value exceeding
thousands of crores of rupees. Efforts of MPT to retrieve such lands have been
continuously thwarted by the state government. So much so that land areas have
been given away by the state government without any consent/approval from the
board of MPT to various hotels," the letters further allege. Agarwal has named
the six hotels.
The letters which were also sent to planning commission members and officials
of the ministry of environment and forests, ministry of commerce, and ministry
of roads, "are based on the knowledge about facts gathered during the course of
my posting as Chairman, MPT", Agarwal told TOI when contacted.
In his letters, Agarwal has alleged that the state government is recovering
revenue from shack owners who are allowed to set up shacks on the coastline of
Goa during the tourist season. "Even in respect of shacks which are being
erected on MPT lands, the licenses are being issued by the state government,
who are also collecting the revenues, bypassing the Board of MPT. There are
numerous other violations of the environment laws and CRZ on such land areas
belonging to Mormugao Port. All these violations have been condoned and
overlooked by the Goa government," the letter alleged.
"It is therefore earnestly requested that as and when the allegations in the
above referred letters from the CM, Goa, are looked into and discussed with the
Goa state government officers, an impartial and unbiased group of senior
officers of the Central government may also like to examine the reasons why the
state government is obstructing/objecting to vitally needed infrastructure
augmentation projects," the former chairman has stated in his letters.
When contacted, chief minister Digambar Kamat, said, "I will not comment on
officers who have demitted their office."
var zz=0;var sldsh=0;var bellyaddiv = ' ';
var stindex=100;
var stp=150;
var taglen=0;
var tmp;
var tagcheck = new Array("div","span","br","font","a");
var storycontent = document.getElementById("storydiv").innerHTML;
var firstpara =
storycontent.substring(0,storycontent.toLowerCase().indexOf("")).toLowerCase();
function findptt(cnt){
zz++;
if(zz == 10)return;
var xxx=-1,yyy=-1;
var ccnt = cnt;
for(ii=0; ii < tagcheck.length; ii++){
xxx = ccnt.indexOf("
