PANAJI
The Bombay High Court at Goa on Wednesday stayed a circular of the Chief Town Planner (Planning) Rajesh Naik who in December 2022 had directed the North Goa District Office of Town and Country Planning Department to follow the approved Outline Development Plans of Calangute-Candolim and Arpora-Nagoa-Parra for scrutinising/issuing the application for construction, revision, re-construction, subdivision of land, zoning, conversion, etc despite the said ODPs being summarily withdrawn.
The High Court division bench of Justices M S Sonak and Valmiki Menezes granted interim relief as sought by the Goa Foundation (petitioners) and directed that until the final disposal of the petition, the circular was stayed, the authorities not to issue any further zoning certificates based on the impugned circular directing the authorities to inform the Court of the number of certificates they have issued under the said circular dated 22.12.2022 in respect of the 5 villages; and directing the authorities to inform the Collector/Addl Collectors not to grant Conversion Sanads based on certificates issued by the Town Planning Dept/NGPDA from 16.12.2022 onwards to plots in Calangute“Candolim and Arpora-Nagoa-Parra, without independently verifying the plot’s zone status in the Regional Plan-2021.
