Venzy warns residents of being ‘trapped’ by legalisation fees
Panaji: President of the comunidade of Carambolim, Venzy Veigas, said that the government’s move to regularise illegal houses on comunidade land by passing Diploma No. 2070 (Amendment) Bill, 2025, bypasses the Supreme Court ruling and violates Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law.
“The government is charging people fees for legalising houses on 300sqm of land, misleading them with false assurances. Once you pay, you are trapped, the law is being used to collect funds and use people for upcoming elections,” he said, during the Monsoon Fellowship on Sunday.
He said that if the government genuinely cared for the people, it would acquire land from the comunidade legally, by paying for it.
Veigas added that over one lakh people are currently living illegally on comunidade land, which he called “a result of an illegal mechanism.”
He said many comunidades have already passed resolutions opposing the bill and asked local panchayats to do the same.
At the fellowship, Marlon Rodrigues, a core team member of Amche.in, said, “Many feel anxious because they don’t know what is happening to their land.” To address this, Amche.in developed a platform that consolidates and geo-references maps, allowing users to view village, taluka, and community lands.
Rodrigues said that users can integrate their own land records into the platform and get access to more than 40 layers of contextual maps, including terrain, cadastral records, forest cover, and water bodies. “This will allow locals to engage in informed discussions about their land’s legal status and future development plans.”
AskPedro.com, created by Daryl DaCosta, tracks land-related notifications in Goa’s 12 daily newspapers. Users can register their land survey numbers and receive alerts on any official action concerning their property.
SpatialCraft, led by Malcolm Alfonso, offers drone surveys and detailed land mapping for comunidades to plan long-term development, assess soil composition, and identify water bodies and roads.
The programme also featured a panel discussion where four advocates examined the bill’s implications and discussed ways to safeguard people’s rights.
