Unfinished business
File photo of Raheja property
GUILHERME ALMEIDA
MARGAO
Will the new government offer any hope for Carmonkars waging a decade-old battle against Mumbai-based Raheja’s “ the name synonymous with mega housing projects along Salcete's coastal belt, the epicenter of the anti-mega housing agitation over last one decade?
After coming to power in 2012, the BJP-led government had accorded its stamp of approval for Raheja’s 88-bungalow project based on an Amendment brought to the Building regulations by the previous Congress regime. The local village panchayat too had approved the project based on the technical clearance granted by the Town and Country planning department. And, as an attempt to forge partnership with the local villagers and earn their goodwill, the real estate developer has offered to take up a host of infrastructure projects in the village under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
Carmona villagers, however, stuck to their guns, opposing the TCP and panchayat approval, forcing the TCP to dispatch the file back to the government for re-study.
Inquiries by The Goan have now revealed that the TCP has now given all clearances for the housing project on condition that the real estate developer will take up construction of the project only in phases, 20 bungalows a year.
The project file, sources said, will again come back to the Carmona Panchayat as the builder has been asked to submit a revised plan showing the Cross as well as the drinking well located inside the Raheja property. But, the concerns over the width of the road leading to the property still remain unresolved till date “ whether two four-wheelers will cross along the narrow 73 meters stretch of road leading to the property.
Senior town planners told The Goan that though the issue over the road access still remains a concern, the approval is in conformity to the provisions of the Goa Land Development and Building Construction Regulation. “The road access on the narrow 73 meter strip may still remain a concern, but the approval has been granted since the access falls within the exemption granted under the Building regulation," remarked a town planner. He added: “The TCP has insisted on the developer to construct the bungalows in phases precisely because of the concerns over the road access so that villagers are not inconvenienced by the construction activity. The real estate development has agreed to the condition and will take up the construction only in phases, spread over the next couple of years."
Incidentally, Carmona villagers have submitted a charter of demands to all the seven candidates contesting the February 4 election. And, one of the demands listed by the villagers is the stand of the candidates on the controversial Raheja project.
The Raheja tangle had been a bone of contention over the last one decade ever since the Mumbai-based realtor proposed around 700-plus flats and apartments on its sprawling land admeasuring close to a lakh square meter, overlooking the picturesque River Sal. The project, met with stiff resistance from local villagers, as they feared that the mega housing complex, if allowed will alter the village demography and cause a strain on the infrastructure.
