Team Herald
PANJIM: The High Court of Bombay at Goa has stayed an order dated March 7, 2024 issued by the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department converting no development zone into a settlement zone at Salvador-do-Mundo in Bardez taluka.
While granting ad-interim relief, the Court made it clear that any further steps taken pursuant to the issuance of the impugned order will make the situation irreversible since the land in question is a no development slope as per Regional Plan 2021 and the construction will result in massive hill cutting.
The petitioners Direndra Phadte and Alvito D’Silva had challenged the notification/order dated March 7, 2024 issued by TCP Department in respect to the land survey No. 292/1-I of Salvador-Do-Mundo village whereby under Section 17(2) of the TCP Act, the zone was changed from no development slope to the settlement zone.
The Regional Plan 2021 had clearly indicated the area as a no development slope. The petitioners counsel Adv Rohit Bras De Sa produced survey reports for submitting proposals under Section 17(2) of the
TCP Act wherein the gradient in the contour plan was indicated as 19.10 per cent and that there was no slope above 25 per cent.
In another survey, the property as per the contour plan was shown as having gradient between 10-25 per cent and the area indicated was 7,500 square metres. Part of the property was already shown as settlement zone. What was surprising was that the conclusion records that although part of the property is having gradient of more than 25 per cent, the applicant Mohit Agarwal had sought to rectify the entire property of settlement as he will not do any construction on the no development slope but he will use the floor area ration (FAR) of the same.
The Court observed that though major portion of the land was no development slope as per Regional plan 2021, prima facie, it appeared that the report indicated that the FAR in respect of the no development slope was permitted to be used by Agarwal. The question was whether the FAR in respect of the no development slope can be utilised.
Additional Government Advocate Siddharth Samant sought four weeks’ time to file replies. The matter has now been posted for further hearing on March 17.