PANJIM: The Goa Foundation has condemned the seven large scale ad hoc zoning changes in the Regional Plan 2021 in favour of M/s Gangareddy Infra Private Ltd in Morjim village, Pernem Taluka.
In a press statement issued on Friday, GF director Claude Alvares said that the changes have been effected under the pretext of being “errors”; however, no errors can be found in RP 2021 in this context for this area.
He said that the application was cleared within three weeks and the rezoning of such a massive area of orchard as “settlement” found no ecological, environmental or town planning justification. Total area sought to be rezoned from orchard to settlement amounts to 62,367 sq mts.
Alvares said that the plots are not adjacent to any settlement, and they fall between nature reserves and no-development slopes. “The changes are therefore wholly arbitrary, unjustified and mala fide,” he charged.
Pointing out that the changes have been notified by issuing a unilateral notification under the newly added sub section 2 of Section 17 of the TCP Act, Alvares said that the section was recently introduced by the government by making an amendment to the Act.
In a separate press note, Dean D’Cruz, former member of the State Level Committee on RP 2021, criticised the idea that the zoning of these plots were an error.
“As a member of the State Level Committee on RP 2021, I can state with confidence that there was absolutely no error in approving the land use that is now sought to be changed. This manner of changing the land use of huge properties goes against the basic planning norms. This change does not fall under the definition of an error,” D’Cruz said.
He demanded that the Government should retract this change to restore any residual faith the public may have in the ability of the state to plan its future, keeping its natural environment intact.