Licensing flaw makes unsafe Margao structures shakier

Time of India

01-06-2025

Margao:
The South Goa collector's recent order to demolish two unsafe buildings in Margao exposed a loophole in the municipal licensing system. There is a possibility that many other condemned structures not only continue to house businesses with valid trade licences, but also accommodate new ones by granting fresh trade permits, creating potential death traps for unsuspecting owners and customers.
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The Margao Municipal Council (MMC) served notices to 56 buildings in the town under Section 190 of the Goa Municipalities Act, a provision that empowers municipal authorities to deal with structures 'in ruins or likely to fall'. Yet, the council's automated online licensing system may have granted trade permits to businesses operating within these buildings earmarked for demolition.
The root of the problem lies in the digitised trade licensing process.
Once applicants upload the required documents online, licences are processed and issued within days, with no mandatory site inspection. This provision, designed to ease business operations, has created a situation where businesses can legally operate in buildings that may have been marked as unsafe.
Former chief officer Gaurish Shankhwalkar found this loophole while processing the revocation of a trade licence for a ground-floor unit in a building marked for demolition on Isidorio Baptista Road.
The business owner claimed complete ignorance of the building's condemned status, highlighting how the current system fails to flag public safety threats.
'Section 190 of the Goa Municipalities Act serves as the primary tool for municipal authorities to address dangerous structures. It requires owners or occupiers to 'pull down, secure, remove or repair' buildings deemed hazardous. However, the provision's effectiveness is undermined when the same authority permits commercial activities within these condemned spaces,' a business lawyer told
TOI
.
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Adding to the concern is a discrepancy in official records. While the MMC is known to have issued notices to 56 buildings under Section 190, only 21 structures made it to the official list of unsafe buildings submitted to the district collector last week.
Locals said the discrepancy means that scores of potentially dangerous structures remain off the official radar.
Shankhwalkar had directed the technical department to place clear identification marks on all unsafe buildings. The move was aimed at preventing future licensing errors. However, since his transfer, the directions haven't been acted on.
A senior MMC official said that a supplementary list of pending cases of unsafe buildings was being prepared and will be submitted to the district collector soon.