Quepem: More than four meters of Square Lakh Agriculture and the adjacent orchard gardens and hills located within the quepem city limits are being cleaned for real estate with some “illegal” structures that have appeared here.
Members of the Quepem City Council Board (QMC) have shouted violations and demanded an investigation into “sales of plots in zones without development (NDZ)”.
Delhi-based developers allegedly made around 500 plots of land parcels between Igramoll and Gaonkarwada and sold them.
Land stretches are under various survey numbers and more than 150 mutation entries have been made in the property survey number.
Under Section 49 (6) of the City Law and Goa Daman and Diu State, which came into force since March 2018, NOC needed from the city and state planning department to register sales.
However, to be questioned, an official from the TCP Department in Quepem said they were not authorized to issue NOCs for non-set land.
Details equipped with the Quepem Civil Registration Office to RTI reveal different stories.
The NOC has been issued at that time the Manguirish City Planner Deputy Verenkar.
With the TCP Quepem office failed to respond to RTI even 15 months later, information about other aspects continued to remain unclear.
Meanwhile, even as a controversy has erupted the legality of sales deeds, some have been cutting hills on their respective plots and even building houses.
Every construction activity requires permission from each Civic Agency and in this case QMC has not received the application for construction.
QMC Engineer, Nitin Khotarkar told TOI that he had issued a notification of showing off to three on March 12 for carrying out illegal development in the country, which came under the no developing zone.
Khotarkar added that developers had built roads without council permission.
“Hill cuts are being carried out openly, but the authorities fail to take action against the developer.
This is an act of blatant violations of environmental law and the massive destruction of our ecology and natural resources,” said local activist Hilario Fernandes.
Former Chair and member of the QMC Board of QMC D’Costa has raised this problem during the Board recently and demanded that the five member committees be formed to investigate “illegal” plot sales “.
The QMC Board accused that the developer worked well in gloves with the authorities and politicians in changing land use for the purpose of settlement The same has been proposed for the construction of 1,856 flats under the Pradhan Mantri Beware of Yojana.
Then a member of the Secretary of the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA), Tariq Thomas on May 17, 2019, has sent a proposal to QMC who requested him to comment on the project.
QMC at the council meeting held on June 18, 2019, t After rejecting the project after rigid opposition from the locals and a group of board members.
Referring to this, Fernandes questioned the current plot sales on the ground by Delhi-based developers and cutting and development of the next hill there.
“How are the builders allowed to sell the plot when the QMC refused? The land is a hill and natural water source,” he said.