Karwar: 157 huts and houses of Kannadigas from Baina beach in South Goa district were removed by the Goa government in a demolition drive drive undertaken here on saturday.
Representative image
The encroachments were cleared on a day Karnataka observed a bandh to protest against Goa’s stand over Karnataka’s decision to implement the Kalasa-Banduri canal project.
A notice was issued by the South Goa district administration to the residents on September 4 asking them to vacate the beach in 15 days. Water and electricity connections were disconnected to these houses about two months ago.
As the deadline ended on Friday, officials informed the residents about the scheduled demolition drive to be taken up the next day. The officials arrived at the spot with police force and excavators at 7 am on Saturday and began the demolition drive.
As the clearance drive intensified, the residents were seen taking out their valuables out of the houses and huts.
Officials did not give residents much time and demolished all the huts and houses by 10 am. Residents were then seen collecting their belongings from the debris. A small temple constructed by the residents was also razed.
Last year, the Goa government demolished 75 houses and another 50 houses from the beach in June. A majority of the houses and huts had been occupied by Kannadiga families. The drive to clear the encroachments has been taken up as the huts and houses are built within the Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ).
The CRZ norms prohibit construction of any permanent structure on beaches as high tides may cause loss of lives.
The Kannadiga families, most of them labourers, are residing there for many decades and hail from Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Belagavi and Gadag districts.
Meanwhile Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said in Bengaluru that he will speak to his Goa counterpart Laxmikant Parsekar about the demolition.
