PANJIM: Squad Team of the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department will now have forest officials on board to monitor all illegal hill cuttings.
In a series of tweets, Minister for TCP Vishwajit Rane, who also holds Forest portfolio, said that the department has taken a decision to integrate the squad officials of TCP and the Forest Department to monitor all aspects of hill-cutting, tree cutting and tree-felling.
“TCP Act violations will be thoroughly investigated. The reports will be forwarded to Chief town planner and the conservator of forest. Through these squads, we will have a proper mechanism in place to monitor any type of violation of the Acts,” he tweeted.
The minister said that email address for reporting violations will be issued for general public and based on it the squad team will be dispatched to the location for investigation.
“People should not take the department for granted. We will follow the law and maintain complete transparency in both departments,” he said.
Rane said that the focus would be to prevent large-scale land filling and hill cutting in the State.
Based on the com’plaint filed by North Goa Planning and Development Authority (NGPDA), Mapusa police had recently filed FIR against Leader of Opposition Michael Lobo and his wife and Congress MLA Delilah for illegal land filling at Parra.
Anjuna police has also filed FIR in an illegal hill cutting case at Arpora.
