PANAJi
Goenkars Against Planning and Development Authorities (GAPDA) on Tuesday lashed out at the government for serious discrepancies when it comes to which areas can be used for development, and have submitted their grievances to Amarnath Panjikar, the member secretary of the NGPDA for consideration.
Arturo D'Souza, who heads the activist group, has alleged that a huge chunk of land that comes under Goa University (46 survey numbers) has been included in the Greater Panjim PDA, which is unacceptable because 44 of these plots come under St Cruz, which is a village area.
Only two of these survey numbers fall under the Bambolim area, and D'Souza said there is no reason why all survey numbers should come under the Greater Panjim PDA.
GAPDA will seek an appointment with the governor Dr Mridula Sinha, who is also the Chancellor of Goa University to apprise her of the situation, said D'Souza.
Further, D'Souza alleged that the government was ignoring High Court orders that say that 200 meters around the Bondwol lake in Santa Cruz is to be maintained as buffer zone, as the top part of the lake is surrounded by orchard and forest area.
"However, only a 50 meter buffer zone has been kept, while development is being undertaken on the rest," he said.
Moreover, zones that were shown as eco-sensitive in the Regional Plan 2021 are now being shown as "vacant" according to PDAs.
The group intends to continue pursuing all these issues in the Gram Sabha.
