Latest news with #RegionalPlan2011
Time of India
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
20k sqm Pilerne hill conversion risks landslides, threatens lake
Panaji: The town and country planning department has given the greenlight to convert a 20,000 sqm land parcel on the Pilerne hillside that forms the buffer zone and catchment area for Pilerne's Saulem Lake. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now This zone change effectively reintroduces elements of the controversial Regional Plan 2011 that was scrapped after a massive public protest. The conversion was provisionally granted under Section 39A of the Town and Country Planning Act. If granted final approval, this will see a steep hill slope being opened up for construction. The land parcel is currently marked as partly orchard with 'No Development Slope' in the Goa Regional Plan – 2021, meaning that the gradient is considered too steep for construction and is vulnerable to soil instability. 'In 2006, around the time RP-2011 was notified, over 90 trees were hacked down and the hill was burnt for days. This notification is yet another instance in the TCP's chequered history,' said professor of development studies Solano da Silva. The TCP granted provisional approval for change of zone under Section 39A for Survey No. 37/0 and 37/1 in Pilerne on June 18. The department has given a brief window for stakeholders to voice their concerns. Environmental experts argue that construction on such steep slopes could alter the natural water flow, exacerbating the risk of landslides. 'Allowing development activities on such steep hill slopes poses a severe risk of landslides in the future. This danger extends not only to structures within the converted property but also to adjacent properties with existing structures, which could face the brunt of slope erosion and altered water flow, potentially leading to loss of life and property,' said Pilerne Citizens Forum secretary Hilario Lobo. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The TCP has ignored the proximity to the eco-sensitive Saulem Lake, also known as Pilerne Lake, which was notified as a protected wetland on Dec 9 through a gazette notification. The Wetland Notification of 2018 clearly stated that a 'zone of influence' means part of the catchment area of the wetland or wetland complex. The lake functions as a natural funnelled aquifer, replenished by springs. The water resources department (WRD) has demarcated the buffer zone as a water catchment area under the Catchment Area Department Authority of Goa (CADA). Environmentalists say that the TCP department has failed to independently assess the gradient and slope, with ISRO satellite imagery analysis indicating the slope is greater than 25 degrees, which should classify it as no development slope.
Time of India
09-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Pernem citizens, council, MLA oppose main road expansion
Mapusa: Pernem citizens, businessmen, Pernem Municipal Council (PMC) and Pernem MLA have opposed the proposed widening of major district road (MDR) to 25m that will pass through the Pernem market. They said that the road will pierce through establishments, houses and temples destroying the unique character and identity of Pernem. Pernem market committee organised the meeting that was attended by PMC chairperson Manoj Harmalkar and MLA Pravin Arlekar. Haralkar said in the Regional Plan 2011, the road was shown as 15-metre-wide. However, in the Regional Plan 2021, it was shown as 25-metre-wide. 'If the road is made 25-metre-wide, it will affect the Pernem market area as all the shops, old houses and temples of this place will have to be demolished, Haralkar said. The local MLA said, 'We do not want a 25m road. Govt has to propose an 8-9m road. There are many temples in this area. Temples preserve our culture and identity. Keeping in mind the opposition of the citizens, it is requested to widen the road by 8-9m,' Arlekar said. He assured the locals that he will hold a joint meeting with chief minister Pramod Sawant, Pernem market committee and the locals.
Time of India
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
ODPs case another indictment of TCP's urban planning flaws
Panaji: The order of the high court of Bombay at Goa regarding the outline development plans (ODPs) for five prominent coastal villages — Calangute, Candolim, Arpora, Nagoa, and Parra — brings into sharp focus the long-standing allegations of arbitrary land conversion and procedural violations that have plagued the town and country planning (TCP) department. This is not the first time the judiciary reversed the department's policies. From putting on hold a circular on ODPs for the five villages to virtually striking down the TCP department's power to unilaterally alter the zoning of private plots through Section 17(2) of the TCP Act, 1974, the courts have emerged as the battleground for Goa's land politics. In most of these cases, the judiciary found the department's actions procedurally flawed, environmentally negligent, or contrary to statutory planning norms, say activists who have taken up cudgels against the department. The earliest large-scale expression of public distrust began with the Regional Plan 2011. Accusations of arbitrary zoning changes benefiting real estate interests led to the plan's scrapping, triggering the formation of the task force for Regional Plan 2021. This exercise ran into allegations that large swathes of land were converted to settlement zones without public consultation, prompting govt to once again keep it in abeyance. Since then, successive BJP govts have tried to bring in piecemeal changes in the RP2021 in the guise of amendments designed to 'correct' the errors. Vijai Sardesai was the first to try making incremental tweaks through Section 16B of the TCP Act during his brief stint as TCP minister in 2018. When this was challenged in the HC, present TCP minister Vishwajit Rane rushed in Section 17(2) in the guise of correcting 'inadvertent errors' in the RP2021. As public pressure mounted, and with Section 17(2) being challenged through a PIL, Rane brought in Section 39(A) for ease of land conversions. Under this, the TCP department's chief town planner has been empowered to alter or modify the RP2021 and the ODPs. According to Goa Foundation, 95% of the applications under Section 39(A) involve changes from orchard (2.4 lakh sqm) and natural cover zones (1.4 lakh sqm) to settlement. Meanwhile, on March 13, the HC read down Section 17(2) of the TCP Act. Justices M S Karnik and Nivedita Mehta minced no words when they immobilised the amendment, saying that it 'virtually has the effect of mutilating the regional plan'. By then, the TCP department had already converted 26.5 lakh sqm. The HC order said that such large-scale conversion could have 'disastrous consequences' on an ecosystem as fragile as Goa's. The HC's order on the ODPs is yet another indictment of the TCP's flawed functioning, said an architect. 'Money is being taken for land conversion, but nobody is talking about need-based planning. Govt must decide what happens to the zone changes that have been done till now,' the architect added. The HC order comes after a series of back and forth between environmentalists, the TCP department, the HC, and the Supreme Court. In fact, while hearing a special leave petition by Goa govt against the Bombay HC's order restraining construction based on the ODP for the five villages, Supreme Court Justice Satish Chandra Sharma told Goa's counsel, 'Please don't turn Goa into a concrete jungle.' The message never got passed down, with govt continuing to defend the ODPs in the HC. While these reversals brought uncertainty upon builders, investors, and landowners in Bardez—many of whom benefited from conversions in the ODP—the courts have signalled a zero-tolerance approach to irregularities in urban planning.
