PANAJI
Town and Country Planning Minister Vishwajit Rane said the government will approach the Supreme Court of India against Thursday's order of the Bombay High Court on Section 17(2) of the Town & Country Planning Act.
"The court has upheld Section 17(2). It has not been struck down. Whatever has been said by the honourable judges about the rules we will take it to the Supreme Court. We have already briefed Mukul Rohatgi. A note has already been moved," Rane said.
Rane said, whatever the government is doing is for the "balanced development" of Goa.
“We must protect investor sentiment. There are people who think that there should be no development at all in Goa. There are several errors in the Regional Plan. 17(2) was brought in to enable correction of these errors,” Rane said, adding that the court itself has stayed the order for six weeks giving a window to approach the Supreme Court.
“I respect the judiciary and following the suggestions given by the judges regarding operationalisation and interpretation is not a problem. That is why 39 A has been brought for taking objections and suggestions from people for zone changes,” Rane said.
He said the government will make the necessary changes as suggested by the Court after we get a better interpretation from the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, Rane who is also the Health Minister, conducted a surprise inspection of the Paediatric Neuro Rehabilitation Centre (PNRC) at Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Bambolim.
He said, he has noticed that visiting the GMCH and walking through the whole hospital is not very effective and he has therefore decided to conduct surprise inspections one department at a time.
Rane said, he also visited the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in the Paediatric Department and interacted with doctors to understand the challenges faced by them.
The PNRC will be upgraded to enhance neuro-rehabilitation services for neonatal infants, he added.