PANAJI: In response to growing concerns regarding unauthorized structures on comunidade land, the government has established a 10-member expert committee to investigate the inappropriate usage and illegal construction of residential houses on non-government land.
The committee, led by additional collector Gurudas Desai as the member secretary, will assess the current usage of state land and recommend sustainable land management policies.
“The revenue department is keen for experts to examine cases where residential homes have been built on non-government land without ownership rights and to propose relevant legal, policy, or administrative measures for granting ownership and legalizing such properties, considering eligibility and public interest,” stated the state revenue department in a notification.
The committee has been given three months to complete its evaluation and will explore feasible regularization measures that adhere to public interest and legal guidelines.
The Goa government has also announced plans to introduce a bill during the monsoon session aimed at regularizing unauthorized homes and structures constructed on government and comunidade lands.
Senior advocate Ramchandra Ramani has been appointed as the chairman of the committee, joined by Portuguese law expert advocate Aires Pinto Furtado, and advocates Amrut Ghatwal, Pritam Moraes, and Prasad Naik.
From the government side, the committee includes panchayat director Siddhi Halarnkar, revenue joint secretary Surendra Naik, director of settlement and land records Chandrakant Shetkar, and archives department archivist Balaji Shenvy.
The committee is also tasked with assessing the effects of ongoing government and private sector projects on non-government land in the region.
Once the committee concludes its study, it will suggest new legislation, amendments, or simplifications of current processes to promote “optimal utilization and effective conservation” of land.
