MARGAO: The High Court directed the Government to comply with their own Order dated 28th March 2018 and not to grant any permission for construction in eco-sensitive areas even though it is shown as settlement zone in the Regional Plan.
Adv Gayatri Singh from Mumbai, who appeared on behalf of nine organizations (PIL 45/2018) wherein the petition had challenged the Regional Plan 2021 quoted Para no 6, b of the order which states that, “Areas such as low lying paddy field, water body, khazan land, flood-prone area, land having slopes more than 25%, forest land including private forest land, land falling in the buffer zone of Wild Life Sanctuaries (without the prior permission of Forest Department) and No Development Zone as per CRZ notification (without prior permission of GCZMA) even if they fall in settlement or developable zone shall not be permitted.”
Gayatri Singh produced a copy of recent permissions granted in July for the construction in a private forested area in Camurlim village, Salcete bearing Survey number 175. While the Government Advocate tried to dodge the issue by seeking time to respond, the Judge noted that the Government is not following its own law.
After hearing the arguments from both the advocates, the Judge passed an order directing the government to comply with its own orders by which no permissions can be granted in eco-sensitive areas. The matter is now listed for December 11.
While the question which remains unanswered is who will decide whether an area shown as settlement zone in RP 2021 an eco-sensitive zone, the Petitioners are calling the interim order a small but significant victory towards their goal of squashing the order of March 28, 2018.
