Now, Goa govt introduces bill to regularise houses on comunidade land

Panaji: A proposed amendment to the Goa Legislative Diploma No. 2070 to to regularise unauthorised dwelling houses constructed on comunidade land before Feb 28, 2014 was approved by the cabinet on Monday and introduced in the legislative assembly later in the day.

According to the bill, the area eligible for regularisation is the plinth of the dwelling house plus two metres on all sides, subject to a maximum of 300sqm. If an application for regularisation is not filed or is rejected, the administrator of comunidades shall initiate proceedings for removal of the structure. Regularisation is not permissible on agricultural tenant’s land as described under the Agricultural Tenancy Act, protected forests, wildlife sanctuaries, Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) if constructed after Feb 19, 1991, no-development zones, eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) I, khazans, road setbacks or right-of-way, filled water bodies or natural water channels, and land other than cultivable areas or orchards in ESZ II.

Regularisation is permissible if the land falls under settlement, institutional, industrial, cultivable or orchard zones. Any excess land must be surrendered to the comunidade through the administrator, and possession of the excess land must be taken before the final order is issued.

Applications must be made within six months of the commencement of the amended act, and must be accompanied by relevant documents and the prescribed fees. The bill states that applications shall be disposed of within six months from the date of receipt, and only one application per dwelling house will be allowed.

The proposed amendment empowers an officer not below the rank of a senior scale officer of the Goa Civil Service, to issue orders for regularisation of such unauthorised dwellings upon receiving from the applicant an application, compensation to be paid to the comunidade concerned, and the explicit consent of the comunidade to regularise the land in question.

An applicant must be a landless person who constructed a dwelling house before Feb 28, 2014, on land belonging to the comunidade without such land being lawfully granted to him/her. The applicant must have been a resident of Goa for at least 15 years prior to Feb 28, 2014. In case of his/her death, a family member may apply, but this does not include a person or kin who owns a plot of land, a house, flat, or apartment, or an undivided share in ancestral property which, on the date of making an application, was separately allotted to him/her.