PANJIM: The North Goa Planning and Development Authority (NGPDA) has decided to approach the State government with a proposal to amend the Town and Country Planning (TCP) regulations granting relaxation to thousands of structures along Calangute-Candolim-Baga-Sinquerim stretch constructed without proper setback.
The authority has also resolved to regularise over 3000-odd houses which have been constructed but are not reflected on the land survey plan by marking them on the Outline Development Plan (ODP) for Calangute-Candolim, the draft of which will be kept open for public suggestions for 15 days.
Addressing media persons after the Board meeting, NGPDA chairman Michael Lobo said the government has already approved that Land Use Map and Land Use Register of Calangute-Candolim planning area and the final Map and Register would be drafted and sent to the government for final adoption. “The last such exercise was undertaken in 1971, post that the coastal belt has changed completely,” he said.
Lobo, the local MLA, said the coastal belt is now densely populated. “There are over 3000 houses, which will be regularised by marking them in the ODP, these are not illegal constructions, but constructions that were not marked on the earlier plan,” he said.
NGPDA has urged people to come forward and provide more suggestions if they feel that their structures are not listed on the plan.
NGPDA has also decided to approach the government to amend the TCP regulations in a bid to give relaxation to several commercial and residential constructions that have come up without keeping proper setback.
In a bid to ban tourism and commercial activities at Aguada Plateau, NGPDA has decided to mark the plateau as ‘Heritage Site’ and ‘No Development Zone’ in the ODP. “We propose to mark the Aguada plateau as heritage site and no development zone, banning complete commercialization of the plateau,” Lobo said.
The Authority also proposed 25 meter wide bypass road from Sinquerim to Baga along with internal road connectivity to the settlement zones.
