Issue of road access comes to haunt authorities yet again
the goan I network
MARGAO
Nearly seven months after Senior Town Planner, Margao, had recommended to the government to take a fresh call on the housing project after seeking report from the PWD and Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority, the file has again come back the Town and Country Planning Office, Margao, with a direction to seek necessary clarifications from the departments concerned, including the PWD.
Though the Senior Town Planner, Margao, had suggested to the government that directions may be issued to the Mumbai-based realtor not to commence the work until further directions, the government has for the moment only sought clarification on the road access. The office of the Senior Town Planner, Margao, had on October 12, 2015, suggested to obtain the opinion of GCZMA in the matter. It had further suggested to the government to ask the PWD to reconfirm the statue of the land acquisition and also give its status of taking up any improvement of the road within the acquired area.
That the government has sought clarifications from the authorities concerned assumes significance in view of the noting put by Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza, who also holds the Town and Country Planning portfolio, pointing to the “serious concerns” raised on the issue.
What’s interesting to note is the fact that the Deputy CM had suggested in his note dated November 30, 2016, to conduct an inquiry to find out how the plan for the Raheja housing project was given clearance in the absence of a proper approach road width all throughout.
Sources in the TCP office at Margao told The Goan that following the return of the file by the government, the office will soon write to the PWD office as well as GCZMA seeking clarification on the Raheja housing project vis-Ã -vis the road access, which has been the bone of contention between the local villagers on one side and the panchayat body and the government on the other. “We will seek clarifications from the two authorities, especially the PWD, to clarify over the land acquired for the road leading to the Raheja property. Clarifications will be asked from the PWD whether they have any plan to develop the acquired land,” informed a senior TCP official.
The Mumbai-based realtor has obtained construction license from the panchayat body for the construction of 88 bungalows in its property admeasuring around 80,000 sq. mts. While the panchayat has granted the construction license based on the technical clearance from the TCPl, local villagers had been contesting the decision on grounds that a good stretch of the access road is narrow not allowing even two four-wheelers to pass at one time.
Interestingly, though the realtor has obtained the construction license last year, work on the construction project has not started till date.
