Land-filling: Flying squad inspects fields at Salvador do Mundo

Panaji: The revenue department’s flying squad responded to a complaint of land filling in low-lying paddy fields at Salvador do Mundo on Wednesday. The flying squad found that over 350m-long stretch of fields were covered with freshly dumped mud, said the Salvador do Mundo biodiversity management committee (BMC).

The committee wrote to the North Goa collector Ankit Yadav, Bardez deputy collector, Mamlatdar Tiswadi, on Tuesday asking for an inspection into tenanted paddy fields that were being illegally filled.

Dinesh Dias, the chairman of the Salvador do Mundo BMC, noticed that multiple tenanted low-lying paddy fields on both sides of the road from Paithona Chapel to Donwaddo in Salvador do Mundo village were being illegally filled.

“An inspection team consisting of three officials of the flying squad and one policeman arrived today at around 11am. During this inspection, I pointed out the ground reality wherein illegal low-lying field-filling on both sides extended over 350m. It was also noticed that over 30 truckloads of mud and construction debris had been freshly dumped alongside the road from Paithona Chapel to Donwaddo,” said Dias.

He said he informed the flying squad that the contractor allegedly involved in the illegal dumping of mud and debris was part of the ongoing road expansion in the village, but the officials showed no interest. The flying squad team measured the area and the quantum of debris dumped by the trucks.