CALANGUTE: Calangute villagers have urged the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department to stop issuing NOCs for new mega projects in the tourism village unless and until the required basic infrastructure is in place.
In a memorandum to the TCP department office at Mapusa, villagers along with panchayat members on Friday urged it “stop issuance of NOC/permissions in low-lying areas, agriculture fields, hill-cutting, land filling, no development slopes, no development areas of coastal zone, eco- sensitive zones etc.” They also accused the TCP department of “haphazard ways of clearing the files for the development of projects in low-lying areas and on the slope of Boa Viegm hill.”
“We state that without building up infrastructure, providing for massive conversion for the purpose of construction will overburden the existing basic amenities and infrastructure. At present, the water requirement of Calangute is much higher than what is supplied and same is the case of electricity supply.
The memorandum states: “During the gram sabha held on 22/10/2023 it was brought to the notice of members that the green fabric of eco-system of Calangute is under threat with haphazard ways of clearing the files by the town and country planning department.
“That the proposal placed before the gram sabha for discussion in the recent development of the project on the sloppy hill area, in the property bearing survey no. 26/1 of village Calangute, technical NOC was issued by the TCP department after the NGPDA was scrapped and ODP was suspended by the government. Similarly, another project was cleared by the TCP Department in a property bearing survey no. 26/3 which resulted in massive destruction of biodiversity, felling of trees and hill cutting.
“That the NOC issued to the development project in the property bearing survey number 24/19 involved land-filling of low-lying area (agriculture field) where the area witnessed breeding of turtles and other biodiversity.
“There are more such cases of illegal construction by filling of low-lying areas, filling of agriculture fields for commercial purposes which need to be dealt with seriousness under section 17A and 17B of TCP Act.
“Calangute is bounded with two major hills, named, Boa Viegm Hill and Baga Hill which are eco-sensitive areas and is known for medicinal plants and rich in biodiversity,” the memorandum states.
“To protect the green cover of Boa Viegm Hill and the surrounding areas of village Calangute, we demand that should there be any technical NOC / permission issued to any project recently on the basis of ODP or the NOC issued by NGPDA within the said area, same shall be revoked immediately in the interest of the village. We further demand that no NOC/permissions shall be issued to any mega projects within the jurisdiction of village panchayat Calangute unless and until the required basic infrastructure of the village falls in place.”
