Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji
Panaji, Jul 18: A broad coalition of villagers, citizens, environmental groups and opposition leaders under the banner 'Enough Is Enough' staged a massive protest outside the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department in Panaji on Friday, giving the Goa government a 15-day ultimatum to repeal the controversial Sections 39A and 17(2) of the TCP Act, alleging that the provisions were enabling large-scale land conversions and threatening the state's ecological balance.
The protesters warned that if the government failed to withdraw the provisions within the stipulated period, they would intensify the agitation by launching a Gandhian-style non-cooperation movement through panchayats and municipalities, urging local bodies not to process files or grant licences linked to Section 39A.
The protest coincided with TCP Minister Vishwajit Rane defending Section 39A, describing it as a "landmark" measure aimed at protecting ecologically sensitive land from indiscriminate conversion.
"Gone are the days when any kind of land could be converted by the TCP. Section 39A is a saviour and protector of land. It will protect these areas for posterity," Rane said in a statement issued during the protest.
He maintained that the TCP Department and the Forest Department were working in coordination to safeguard Goa's fragile ecological landscape while preventing indiscriminate land conversion.
Addressing the gathering, movement spokesperson Devidas Amonkar said the agitation was intended to protect Goa's land, environment and identity. He alleged that despite submitting a 10-point charter of demands to the Prime Minister, the President and the state government, no corrective measures had been taken.
"Despite our demand to cancel Section 39A, the government continues to pass two to three conversion orders every week through the official gazette," Amonkar alleged.
Another spokesperson, Govind Shirodkar, accused the government of sacrificing agricultural land and villages in the name of development. Referring to the proposed Karapur project, he alleged that construction activity spread over nearly 5.5 lakh square metres was posing a threat to villages and agricultural landscapes.
Environmentalist Claude Alvares said the Regional Plan 2021 belonged to the people of Goa and could not be altered without public participation. Drawing parallels with the government's earlier decision to withdraw Section 16B of the TCP Act following public protests, he urged the state to similarly repeal Section 39A.
"If 39A is not cancelled, the entire TCP Department and Cabinet will be held responsible," Alvares said, proposing a Gandhian non-cooperation movement under which panchayats and municipalities would refuse to process applications linked to the provision.
Reading out a memorandum submitted to the Chief Town Planner, movement spokesperson Swapnesh Sherlekar demanded the immediate repeal of Section 39A and suspension of all notifications issued under it until the constitutional challenge pending before the High Court is decided.
Sherlekar alleged that Section 39A allows individual landowners to bypass the statutory Regional Plan by seeking plot-wise zoning changes, including conversion of ecologically sensitive areas into settlement zones. He claimed that recommendations had been made to convert nearly five lakh square metres of environmentally sensitive land and that 279 such recommendations had already been finalised despite objections from local communities.
According to him, around 30.27 lakh square metres of land, including No Development Zones, slopes and fallow agricultural land, had already been converted under the provision.
Former bureaucrat and environmentalist Elvis Gomes urged elected representatives in panchayats and municipalities to refuse approvals linked to Section 39A, saying such collective action would make implementation of the provision impossible.
Congress Goa president Girish Chodankar, Congress MLA Carlos Alvares Ferreira, Revolutionary Goans Party MLA Viresh Borkar, AAP Goa chief Valmiki Naik and several representatives of civil society organisations participated in the protest.