Team Herald

PANJIM: In a bid to curb illegal conversions of agriculture and orchard land, the State government has made a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department mandatory for sale or registration of plots.

TCP Secretary Ashok Kumar, in a notification issued on Thursday, said that the amendment to the Town and Country Planning Act 2017 has come into force from March 22, making NOC from Chief Town Planner mandatory for registration of plots. The amendment was passed in December, last year. 

“As per the said amendment act, NOC from the Chief Town Planner (planning) is required to be insisted by the sub-registrars before registering any plots, which are not as per the survey plan issued by the survey department or plots which do not have permissions for sub-division,” Chief Town Planner (administration) James Mathew said in a communication to the State Registrar. 

He further said that no such certificates of sanctions of NOC are required to be produced, if the sub-division of land or making or layout of any property results from the right of inheritance within the family.

Accordingly, an office memorandum issued by State Registrar Ashutosh Apte, directs all civil registrar-cum-sub registrars and district registrar to note that NOC from the Chief Town Planner (planning) is required to be insisted upon before registration of plots.

While placing the amendment in the House, TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai had said that a whopping 40 lakh square meters of orchard and agriculture land had been illegally converted across the State. 

The Minister had assured to bring Section 49 (6) of the act of granting NOC for sale under the ambit of Time Bound Delivery of Services.