Team Herald
PANJIM: Raising strong objections to the South Goa Collector’s circular making it mandatory to get permission of the Indian Navy for any construction within a radius of 20kms of the INS Hansa base, Town and Country Planning (TCP) Minister Vijai Sardesai has decided to seek the intervention of Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu.
The TCP Board that met on Friday under Sardesai also raised objection to the Major Port Authorities Bill 2016, citing revenue loss in the form of infrastructure tax and processing fees.
“I am aghast that this kind of circular can come,” the Minister said while speaking to media after the meeting. “This is a serious issue. We are not going to agree to anything of this sort. Radius of 20 kms touches Sangolda to Saligao in North Goa. We are not a naval enclave. It is not that the Portuguese has gone and Navy has come,” he reacted sharply.
He alleged, “South Goa collector has fallen prey to the tactics of the naval authorities and has issued the circular.”
The Minister pointed out that the Bombay High Court in April 2018 cleared height restrictions in Mumbai up to 300 metres. “In Goa maximum height is 24 metres. If in Mumbai they are clearing 300 metres, what is happening in Goa? We are condemning this,” he stated.
