PANJIM: On Wednesday November 3, the Investment Promotion Board granted 20 in principle approvals for various projects. But Herald is in possession of another document under “Additional Table Agenda” which gives a fair indication of the direction in which “investments” are going and most importantly the kind of areas where these “investments” are planned.
Of the eight proposals, which were not ultimately cleared on Wednesday, seven of them are for resorts/wellness centers, half of them promoted by business houses from out of Goa and almost all of them on orchard settlement, natural cover and even no development zones. All projects are with the IPB so that zoning change beyond the purview of both the Regional Plans is approved.
One project is for a sports retail store, which too has pitched to the IPB for “assistance” for “change of land use and zoning” to commercial use and permission of land filling under Section 17A of the TCP Act, which bans hill cutting and land filling unless permission is given by the Chief Town Planner. This is not even within the IPB’s purview.
The resorts include a 116 -room/villa resort project in the idyllic Island of St Estavam, pretentiously called “Palacio da Juvem”, Juvem being the local name for St Estevam, where the activist priest Father Bismarque died exactly a year ago, fighting against big projects destroying his fragile village. Promoted by Balaji Property and Developers and owned by Sanjeev and Ashutosh Taparias, Rajiv Somani and Vidved Properties, the project is spread over 45,000 square meters. In the 2001 Regional Plan it is partly orchard while close to 6000 square meters marked as orchard land in RP 2001 and paddy fields (yes paddy fields) in 2021.
The other projects in the “Additional Table Agenda” of IPB include the Blue Spring Eco resort in Pale, Quepem in a survey number which was marked as natural cover in RP 2001 and an orchard zone in RP 2021.
Then Brahma Corp Ltd, has proposed a resort in Varca which is partly within 0-200 meters of the High Tide Line which was and continues to be in a partly orchard and partly settlement zone.
The list also includes a project of Vasco-based dentist Dr Marvin Cota who is setting up a 60-room luxury resort in Anjuna which was in orchard land as per RP 2001 and settlement land in RP 2021.
This is followed by the proposal of Sweta Estates Private Limited in Talualim for a “123 keys” hospitality project over a massive land area of 1,42,100 square meters, which was under orchard zone in RP 2001 and partly under settlement, party under orchard and party under a “no development slopes”.
Spanning across the length of the State, the next project submitted for approval is the Cape Prada Resort and Spa in Agonda in Canacona, a 75-room resort on land marked as orchard in RP 2001 and settlement in RP 2021.
Right next door, in Cola, in Rajbagh, Canacona, the Casa Serai Wellness Resort has been proposed, on land which was part orchard and part natural cover in RP 2001 as orchard and natural cover while ion RP 2021, it is marked partly as a no development slope, partly as orchard zone and partly as heritage landscape.
It is clear that no part of Goa has been left untouched and most importantly these projects have been rampantly planned in zones where such projects cannot normally come up, as envisaged in either of the two Regional Plans.
