Protect comunidade land, AAP tells Pillai

Panaji: Representatives of several comunidades, led by AAP legislators Venzy Viegas and Cruz Silva, met outgoing governor P S Sreedharan Pillai to ask him to convince govt to withdraw the bill that seeks to legalise encroachments.

The comunidade representative said that regularising illegal structures in the state will trigger widespread encroachments.

“Please do not legalise these structures because this will open the floodgates for unending encroachments in Goa. We have started a six-day campaign to save comunidades where we will spend two days in each of the comunidade zones,” said attorney of the Assagao comunidade, Nelson Fernandes, after meeting the governor.

Pillai informed the delegation that since a new governor has been appointed for Goa, the issue was out of his hands.

“How can govt bring in a law to legalise what was illegally built on someone else’s land? People are building homes, flats, and structures on comunidade land without asking the comunidades. If that is the case, then we should all build structures on govt land or other people’s land as this law will benefit us. Whatever they are going to do in assembly is going to be bad in law,” said Viegas.

Viegas also wrote to the governor requesting early sanction of Rs 1 lakh each for over 17 museums in Goa, as discussed during the governor’s visit to Goa Chitra Museum in June.