Margao: South Goa District Collector Egna Cleetus, IAS, on Thursday directed Revenue Officers across the district to constitute additional flying squads in every taluka to effectively tackle illegal constructions and encroachments, in line with the High Court’s directives.
Accordingly, these squads became operational from March 28.
The High Court of Bombay at Goa, in a suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL), passed an order on March 6, taking cognisance of the rampant illegal constructions being carried out in the state. In its order, the Court directed the formation of flying squads at the taluka level to deal with the issue in a timely and efficient manner.
As per the memorandum issued by the District Collector, each Flying Squad will include officials such as the police inspector, mamlatdar, talathi, and a representative from the Block Development Office (BDO). Citizens can report illegal constructions via a dedicated WhatsApp number by providing relevant details, and the complaints will be addressed within one hour. In case of non-compliance, the matter will be escalated to higher authorities.
The Deputy Collector (South-I) has been assigned a supervisory role to ensure the proper functioning of the Flying Squads and to submit timely reports to the Collector’s Office for filing before the High Court.
The memorandum also mandates monthly compliance reports, with the first set of reports to be submitted by the deputy collector and/or BDO by April 4. Coordination and compilation of all reports related to illegal constructions will be handled by the flying squad section of the collectorate, which will streamline the process and ensure adherence to the specified deadlines.
