NT NETWORK
PANAJI
In a bid to prevent illegal constructions, land-filling and other unauthorised activities in panchayat areas, the government has issued circular directing the block development officers (BDO) and panchayat secretaries to conduct field visits regularly in their respective jurisdictions.
The Secretary (Panchayat) Sanjay Goel, an IAS officer, has issued a circular in this regard wherein the government has warned that action will be taken against the responsible officers if they fail to act against illegal constructions even after receiving complaints.
Confirming the development, sources from the panchayat department said that the Secretary (Panchayat) has already started the process of guiding the BDOs on taking action against illegal constructions, hill-cutting and land-fillings.
The government has observed that despite there being complaints against illegal constructions in villages, especially in the coastal belt, no action has been taken by the local authorities, which has resulted in an increase in such unauthorised activities. There are instances of the panchayat secretaries not reporting about such unauthorised activities to the concerned BDOs because of which the BDOs remain in the dark. In order to stop such things in the future, the IAS officer has directed the BDOs to conduct surprise visits in the panchayats.
According to the circular issued by Goel, the BDOs should pay surprise visits to panchayats and check records from the office of panchayat secretaries following which the officers should conduct on-field visits to assess the quantum of illegal or unauthorised structures in the panchayat areas and later submit a detailed report to the director of panchayats.
“If even after the receipt of a complaint, a panchayat secretary does not take cognisance about illegal works, it would be the responsibility of the concerned BDO to inform about it to the director of panchayats for further action,” the government has said.
The circular further states that there are instances of unauthorised activities going on in thickly populated areas where it becomes difficult to manoeuvre vehicles during an emergency or disaster. It is because of such illegal activities that planning in villages becomes difficult with pressure being put on power supply, water and other basic requirements, states the circular.
“If any panchayat fails to act against illegal or unauthorised structures in a stipulated time period, the director of panchayats should take steps as per the prescribed rules against such local bodies,” the circular states instructing that the director of panchayats should prepare an action-taken report every 15 days and submit the same to the government.