Cong files plaint before AG over Rs 500 cr loss to State exchequer

PANJIM: The Congress Party has filed a complaint before Accountant General of Goa alleging Rs 500 crore loss to State exchequer due to illegal changes in Zone under Regional Plan 2021 and Outline Development Plan (ODP) by the Department of Town and Country Planning (TCP). 

In a letter to the Accountant General, Goa Pradesh Congress committee (GPCC) President Girish Chodankar has demanded that necessary action be initiated to recover the loss. 

He charged that the change of Zone in ODP and in Regional Plan has resulted into huge financial loss to the government.

 Chodankar claimed that in an attempt to allow piecemeal and selective development by allowing modification of the Regional Plan, the government introduced to the TCP Act by TCP Amendment Act, 2018 by which Section 16B came to be introduced allowing change in Zones on request made by any person at any time.

“By this methodology, an avenue for corruption has been opened which also causes financial loss to the State since development which is to undertaken according to the notified Zone and the change which could be made there under requiring the payment of certain fees would now stand eliminated, causing financial loss to the State,” he said. 

As a result of the introduction of Section 16B, flood of applications were received and the government entertained the applications for change of Zones whereby land identified and Zoned as non-developable Zones like Agricultural, Forest, CRZ Eco-slopes, No Development Slopes have all been permitted to be converted thus making the entire exercise of the preparation of the Regional Plan a total farce and the Regional Plan itself totally redundant, the Congress leader pointed out. 

Chodankar said that as per Division Bench of the Bombay High Court in the matter of Suvina Redkar v/s Government of Goa reported in 1992 MHLj 623 held that the consultation and decision of the TCP Board is very important and the that Board is not an ornamental body in the scheme of the TCP Act and the manner in which the proceedings were conducted before the Board clearly shows that there was a hurried agenda to get the ODPs at any cost.

“It would be important to mention that the PDA even considered proposals for change of zone in respect of land which had no applications for change of zone which included cases of Ministers, MLA’s etc,” he said.

He alleged that the loss occasioned is to the tune of Rs 500 crore.