TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: If the current state of lawlessness, bending of rules, inaction against illegalities and lack of policy continues, Goa’s real estate industry will go the same way as the mining industry, resulting in a blanket ban being imposed by the Supreme Court, the Goa Bachao Abhiyan has warned, even as it pointed out several cases as examples where, they say, the law has been blatantly violated.
“Continued inaction against illegal and unsustainable practices has resulted in people seeking legal recourse to maintain their rights in a democracy. The net result is a ban till issues are sorted out by court as has happened in mining. Indeed, while opportunism existed before, our chief minister has almost institutionalized ‘case by case’ governance. Citizens with no recourse are then forced to implement ‘court case’ governance,” GBA convenor Sabina Martins said at a press conference.
She said the GBA, now frustrated, was exploring both a comprehensive legal petition as well as the path of agitation, even as she said she hoped the government would open its eyes to how it is being owned by the real estate lobby, before it is too late.
She cited five examples of projects that have been approved in eco sensitive zones (ESZs) despite the chief minister, at the time of keeping the RP 2021 on hold saying that a construction permission will be issued only if it showed as a settlement both in the RP 2001 and the RP 2021.
Primary among the examples cited was one of a “Gera Constructions” project coming up in Khandola, which she alleged was coming up on a No Development slope. “This area is clearly (marked as) orchard in the RP 2001,” Martins said.
“Governance is on a case-to-case basis depending on whom the government favours,” Martins said even as she said that for more than one and a half year they have been seeking the regional plan document where there are fixed rules and guidelines applicable for what is allowed and what is not, instead of case by case approvals which are being given by the current government.
