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Goa's Land Use Law Change Sparks Concerns of Environmental Degradation and Favouritism to Real Estate Lobbies

By GeoSquare News Desk · Published 2024-09-09

Land in Goa has always been a contentious issue, with competing demands of development and environmental regulation. The latest controversy surrounds the amendment of the TCP Act, which has introduced Section 17 (2) to ease the process of 'correction' of 'green zones' marked in the Regional Plan 2021 into 'settlements'. This move has opened the gates to construction, sparking concerns among urban planners and activists.

The process of 'correction' involves submitting a written application along with a fee and documents to the Chief Town Planner (CTP). The CTP scrutinises the proposal and submits a report with analysis, including a report from a registered professional. The proposal is then sent to a nine-member expert committee for scrutiny, verification, and recommendation.

The concerns being flagged are that this amendment will lead to the destruction of hill slopes, fields, and natural cover in favour of real estate lobbies and a speculative housing market for 'second homes' for the urban elite. Activist Claude Alvares argues that the demarcation of a hill slope cannot be considered an 'error' and that this move has led to unbalanced development.

Solano da Silva, faculty at BITS Pilani, Goa campus, and author of The Great Goa Land Grab, says that zoning has become a racket, with the government sacrificing the state's life support systems, natural cover, agrarian spaces, paddy fields, and orchards for a fee.

Architect and urban planner Tahir Noronha argues that the government's rationale of 'discrepancies' in the 2021 plan obviates the need for public feedback. He says that people are building illegal constructions and roads and applying for 'corrections' claiming that a road existed before the 2011 plan and the planners simply missed it.

The Who's Who list of applicants, including the TCP minister, a member of the expert committee, and other politicians, raises issues of conflict of interest and propriety.