Goa's 2.7L sqm green cover erased in just 3 weeks
In a span of just three weeks, Goa's town and country planning (TCP) department approved the conversion of over 5 lakh sqm of land under Section 39A — a provision meant for minor land use changes.
Multiple approvals were granted in the villages of Raia (Salcete), Ella (Tiswadi), and Corgao (Pernem), where contiguous tracts of orchard and natural cover land — often with slope protection — were rezoned for settlement.
The TCP granted multiple approvals for change of zone, suggesting piecemeal conversion of natural cover and no development slope to settlement zone. The conversion of several small parcels ranging in size from 300sqm to 3,265sqm suggests potential parcelisation of green cover.
Larger land parcels were put up for conversion at Ella and Corgao, with 1.64 lakh sqm and 69,392 sqm being opened up for construction.
The TCP said that the change of zone was approved after scrutinising the applications and seeking reports from relevant departments such as the water resources department and the forest department. In some instances, the TCP also completed the process of obtaining suggestions from the public.
by Taboola
by Taboola
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Section 39A allows the TCP to make changes in the overall Regional Plan-2021.
Bardez and Pernem dominate the list of approved conversions under Section 39A in terms of frequency, with villages like Assagao, Siolim, Oxel, Reis Magos and Parcem featuring prominently.
The outlier in this incremental conversion exercise is 2.8 lakh sqm land parcel at Loliem that changed from partly settlement to no development slope. The rare reversal in trend was based on an application by the residents of Loliem.
Chief town planner (planning) Vertika Dagur said that the alteration and modification of the regional plan shall be subject to the outcome of the writ petitions which are pending before the high court of Bombay at Goa.
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