Setback for Rahejas at Carmona project

MARGAO, OCT 4
Mumbai-based Ms K Raheja Universal has suffered a major setback in its plans to construct bungalows at Carmona village.
The Town and Country Planning department has returned the file submitted by the Mumbai based real estate developer back to Carmona Panchayat for reconsideration.
The Carmona Panchayat had last month forwarded the file received from Raheja’s for construction of bungalows to the Town Planning office, Margao for approval. However, the file did not find favour with the Town Planning department as an inspection of the property revealed that the real estate developer did not comply with the conditions imposed by the department while granting approval for sub-division of plots.
Town Planner Rajesh Naik confirmed that his office on Monday returned back the file to the Carmona village Panchayat with certain queries.
Sources in the know said that the TCP during its inspection of the property found that the approach road to the property had a width of less than five meters when the condition imposed by the planning department mandated that the road should be 10 meters wide.
In fact, the Town Planner via his letter dated July 15 to the Carmona village Panchayat had made it very clear that any secondary development of Raheja’s property will be permitted only after acquiring and development of the 10 meter road and shall be governed as per rules.
It is interesting to note here that the Town Planning office had issued the provisional and final NOC to the Mumbai-based builder for developing the property into plots based on a note put by  PWD Minister Churchill Alemao to the PWD officials to acquire required land for the expansion of the approach road to 10 meters.
Till date, however, as per the inspection carried out by the TCP, the approach road to Raheja property continues to remain less than 10 meters, prompting the Town Planner Rajesh Naik to return back the construction file back to the Carmona village Panchayat.
Raheja’s had sought permission to develop sub-divided the 64,000-odd sq  mts property into 15 plots. The Mumbai-based had hit the headlines two years ago when they proposed to build as many as 612 apartments on the huge property overlooking River Sal. The proposal, however, did not find favour with the locals, giving birth to the movement against mega housing projects along Salcete’s coastal belt.