MAPUSA
The Goa Legislative Assembly passed four bills including the controversial The Goa Regularisation of Unauthorised Construction (Amendment) bill, 2021 on the last day of the assembly session which dragged on beyond Friday midnight.
The Goa Regularisation of Unauthorised Construction (Amendment) bill, 2021 includes the controversial provision to exclude cultivable land built in eco-sensitive zone II from the definition of ‘green zones’.
The amendment will permit the government to regularise some 12,000-odd structures in such otherwise ‘no development zones’.
The amendment was seen as necessary to bring in clarity to section 3 of the principal law related to difficulties faced by ‘authorised officers’ in interpreting the statute and disposing of applications for regularisation.
The change excludes ‘cultivable land’ and ‘orchard land’ from being labelled as “eco-sensitive” if already built upon and regularisation of such structures is sought under the law.
The bill was taken into consideration in the House by Revenue Minister Jennifer Monserrate and passed after it was put to vote. The opposition voted against the bill.
“This amendment approves pre-dated structures on eco-sensitive zones which is very wrong. With this amendment, structures built even on salt pans will be regularised. This government is setting a bad precedent. You don’t change laws just to get votes,” said Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai.
The House unanimously passed The Goa Motor Vehicles Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which offers rebate to affected parties especially taxi drivers who faced difficulty during the lockdown.
The other two bills “ The Goa Land Revenue Code (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and The Goa Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (Amendment) Bill, 2021 “ were also passed by the House late Friday night.
