Team Herald
PANJIM: The Town and Country Planning (TCP) Board on Monday rejected applications for change of zones under Section 16B of the TCP Act, which fall under the No Development Zone, irrigation or forest areas.
After chairing the board meeting, Deputy Chief Minister and TCP Minister Chandrakant (Babu) Kavlekar said provisional approvals have been given keeping in view the court directions. “We have granted provisional approvals without violating any of court directions,” he said.
Kavlekar said last time 65 cases were cleared, of which 15 have been deferred and three were rejected. “In 167th meeting 112 cases were cleared, out of which 95 were approved while 17 have been deferred,” he said.
Similarly, he said amongst the 66 new applications, 36 have been cleared, 10 have been deferred while 20 have been rejected. “About 95 per cent of provisional approvals have been given to less than 500 sq mts of area, while only 5 per cent is above 500 sq mts,” Kavlekar said. He said that no final approvals have been granted in the cases so far.
On January 9, the State government had informed the High Court of Bombay at Goa that the process to consider proposals under the provisions of 16B of the TCP Act is ongoing, however, final approvals are held back pending final verdict of the court.
The court had allowed to process the applications but barred from making any final decisions.
The Act, which was amended in 2018 to add 16B, empowers the TCP Board to change the zone in an applicant’s land in the Regional Plan. The amendment had been challenged in the High Court by Federation of Rainbow Warriors and Goa Foundation.
