Who would be the bigger beneficiary of the Transfer of Development Rights policy? Is it the lesser-privileged common man who owns chunks of green land? Or is it the real estate lobby which is keeping a hawk’s eye on every bit of additional FAR to go vertical? Government’s intentions will come under serious questioning when it comes to the controversial Transfer of Development Rights for Posterity. Here’s where TDRs for development rights lost on agricultural and eco-sensitive lands and even those coming under CRZ zoning will be traded with FARs.
The tearing hurry which the government has shown with the TDR policy is suspicious. There is no visible population boom, neither is there any outcry from those holding non-settlement properties. The TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai who has projected himself as a Good Samaritan must understand the fact that these green lands were meant to remain the way they are, and these are the very properties that have always defined Goa. And it’s the government’s responsibility to protect them.
By selling development rights on these properties, the government is only legalising large-scale land development which was not possible under existing laws. This is a tricky way to reap a rich harvest at the cost of the common man. The big real estate sharks are the biggest beneficiaries here and they are bound to make hay while the sun shines. Huge money will change hands, and while this Good Samaritan paints an overprotective picture of Goa’s green landscape, another part of the State will be a target of unscrupulous and rampant development.
The ‘giving zones’ have been named in the TDR, but there is no definition of the ‘receiving zones’. This would mean that by using such FARs, real estate giants will be empowered to change the entire skyline of Panaji or for that matter any other place earmarked.
Government intentions are dubitable here. Otherwise consider this irony. When a common man builds a house on orchard land, it’s a controversy. But the very government which shows grave concern over orchard lands is discreetly going on massive conversion of such lands for setting up industry, despite the fact that there are places already identified for these units. There are several instances where government has acquired orchard land and notified it as industrial promotion zone.
It is unfortunate to see the Opposition Congress surrender meekly on the floor of the House and not even bother to move an amendment. It is obvious that on the eve of tabling the bill, the TCP Minister gave a lesson or two on TDR to the Congress group, many of whose members are linked directly or indirectly to the real estate lobby. We have reason to believe Vijai when he said the Congressmen haven’t studied the bill. After all, why do you have to study the bill when there are vested interests involved?
