Joining a grow ing wave of rural resist ance across Goa, the spe cial gram sabha of the Colva village panchayat on Sunday unanimously adopted twin resolutions demanding the immediate withdrawal of the State government’s controver sial notification under Sec tion 39A of the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Act. The meeting was con vened exclusively to delib erate on the latest notifi cation. It follows an earlier gram sabha in which vil lagers had unanimously demanded the scrapping of Section 39A and opposed the conversion of agricul tural, orchard and natural cover lands into settlement zones.
The panchayat sub sequently reiterated those resolutions to the State government through a communication addressed to the Chief Minister, TCP Minister and other plan ning authorities. During Sunday’s de liberations, the gram sabha adopted a general Panchayat resolution op posing the notification while also adopting a sep arate resolution submitted by concerned villagers, farmers and landowners for forwarding to the au thorities. The villagers’ resolution, signed by Arwin Mesquita and a large number of gram sabha members, called for the notification to be scrapped, maintaining that the proposed NDZ/NDA framework could weaken existing protections avail able to agricultural lands, orchards, mangroves and sand dunes.
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It also record ed that any omissions or future additions under the notification should likewise stand covered by the gram sabha’s objec tions. Speaking during the spe cial gram sabha, Mesquita explained the rationale be hind the villagers’ resolu tion, stating that it sought to ensure that existing le gal protections over eco logically sensitive and ag ricultural lands remained intact and were not diluted through the proposed noti fication. The panchayat’s resolu tion similarly opposed the notification and sought its withdrawal, with both resolutions reflecting the gram sabha’s unanimous stand against the proposed changes. Benaulim MLA Capt Ven zy Viegas, who attended the special gram sabha, addressed members at length on both Section 39A and the proposed NDZ/ NDA notification. Viegas, who has been conducting public meetings across the Benaulim constituency on the issue, reiterated his opposition to the notifica tion and urged villagers to remain united in protect ing agricultural lands and ecologically sensitive areas from what he described as attempts to weaken exist ing safeguards.
The panchayat agreed to forward both the vil lagers’ resolution and the panchayat resolution to the concerned authori ties. The special gram sabha’s resolutions follow an earlier gram sabha in which the panchayat reiterated villagers’ demand urging the State government to scrap Section 39A of the TCP Act and oppose the conversion of ag ricultural, orchard and natural cover lands into settle ment zones. The panchayat then informed the government that the gram sabha had unanimously resolved to preserve such lands in the larger public interest and for future generations, expressing concern over the impact of land-use changes on agriculture, water resources, bi odiversity, ecological balance and environmental sus tainability.
The special gram sabha’s resolutions add Colva to the growing list of village gram sabhas that have formally opposed the Section 39A notification and the proposed NDZ/NDA framework, reflecting growing concern across Goa over the impact of the proposed changes on agriculture, environmentally sensitive lands and the State’s planning framework.
