MARGAO
In a major development on the Raheja tangle, Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai on Saturday said the TCP will issue a show cause notice to Mumbai-based realtor Ms Raheja Universal to keep work on the project on hold till the issues raised by the Carmona panchayat body are examined by the department.
He told The Goan that since the Carmona panchayat body has petitioned to him with a plea to keep the project on hold and hold a joint inspection of the Raheja property, the TCP will be asked on Monday to take cognizance of the petition submitted by the Panchayat and issue the show cause notice to the realtor. "I will tell the TCP officials to issue show cause notice to Raheja based on the petition received from the Carmona panchayat body to keep work on the project on hold till such time the issues raised by the panchayat are examined", he added.
Replying to a question, Vijai said a holistic decision will be taken by the TCP taking into account the legal issues as well as the ground reality and sentiments of the villagers. "I am inheriting the Raheja issue. This is not of my making", Vijai reiterated, saying that since the Carmona panchayat has approached him with a petition to keep ongoing work at the project site, the TCP will issue the show cause notice to the realtor.
Sources in the know said the TCP has apparently taken the decision after discussing the matter with Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday, two days after the Carmona panchayat had submitted a petition to him to keep work on the project on hold. When The Goan drew his attention to the fact that the road width along the 73 meter stretch still remains a big concern since the department had cleared the project based on the changes in the Building rules, Vijai shot back "I fail to understand how the then government had deemed proper to give relaxation to road width only in case of 75 meter stretch. "I still cannot understand why the then government did not deem proper to give the relaxation to 50 meter road width or 100 meter road", the TCP Minister said.
The Carmona panchayat led by the Sarpanch Winston Dias and panch members, including Allwyn George had on Thursday called on the TCP Minister at the district Collectorate with a petition to keep the ongoing work at the project site on hold and to hold a joint inspection of the realtor's property.
