Team Herald
MARGAO: Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai assured Carmona sarpanch Allwyn Jorge that eco-sensitive areas will not be tampered with and added that the government policy on eco-tourism projects will not be changed.
He asked the panchayat to suggest alternatives.
Allwyn Jorge along with former sarpanch Savita Mascarenhas met Vijai with a copy of the resolution adopted at the panchayat meeting on March 16, wherein they had objected to the proposal by a private company to convert some portion of land admeasuring 90,000 sq mts from eco-1 to eco-tourism.
He argued that the panchayat is duty-bound to protect the available land and said that because settlement area is becoming scarce, builders are now encroaching on fields. He said the company was seeking to convert land zoned as paddy fields, water bodies and mangroves.
Vijai assured that mangroves and paddy fields will not be converted but pointed out that the govt has a policy permitting people to convert five percent of 10,000 sq mts for the purpose of eco-tourism. He said this policy will not be changed more so because the Code of Conduct is in force.
He asserted that as per law, TCP is not supposed to inform the panchayat about any application for conversion but has to notify the application and give people 60 days time to file their objections. “The panchayat needs to be pro-active and file objections as mandated by the law,” he said.
Allwyn said panchayat has filed its objection and added that he had come to present the panchayat resolution to the minister, which he accepted but suggested that Allwyn give an alternative to the project.
“Listening to the same Panchayat, I had cancelled the permission given to Raheja and till date they cannot give any suggestion as to what should be done on the land belonging to Rahejas,” said Vijai while pointing out that people purchase land to gain something from it.
Allwyn said it was for Rahejas to come up with a proposal for alternate use of the land and said the panchayat is duty-bound to remain with the villagers and disclosed that a signature campaign is underway in the villager against the private company’s project.
“The panchayat is a representative of the entire village and hence objections filed by the panchayat are objections on behalf of the villagers and hence they need not file a separate objection,” he said.
As Allwyn said nearly 10,000 sq mts would be converted under eco-tourism, Vijai said his officials would inspect the site and accordingly act on the objections filed by the panchayat.
