PANAJI
The Town and Country Planning Department has received 5,852 applications since April 2017 for change in zone of land-use, most from Ponda taluka.
As many as 1,463 applicants from Ponda have sought that their land marked as orchard, cultivable or 'no development slopes' and some with 'natural cover, be converted to settlement zone.
Interestingly, the least number of applications came from Mormugao -- 89.
Pernem has 515 applications, while Bardez 936, 618 in Salcete, 327 in Tiswadi, 784 in Bicholim, 119 in Canacona, 461 in Quepem, 88 in Sanguem, 332 in Sattari and 120 in Dharbandora.
A large proportion of these applications for change of land-use zone are under the nascent section 16B of the T&CP Act in Pernem and seek to convert parcels of land ranging between 270 square meters and up to 2.25 lakh square meters.
All these applications are "under process" according to written answers provided by Town and Country Planning Minister, Chandrakant (Babu) Kavlekar to multiple queries on the issue raised by Madkaim MLA Sudin Dhavlikar, Mandrem MLA, Dayanand Sopte among others.
The controversial section 16B was introduced in the T&CP Act in mid-2018 when Goa Forward Party's Vijai Sardesai held the TCP portfolio.
The amendment is under challenge before the Bombay High Court at Goa which in an interim order has ruled that all decisions under the proviso will be subject to the final outcome of the petition and applicants will not be entitled to seek any relief in retrospect.
