Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, May 17: The Town and Country Planning (Town and Country Planning Department, Goa) department has proposed the conversion of more than 63,500 square metres of land across Bardez, Salcete, Tiswadi and Mormugao under Section 39A notifications, with Bardez accounting for the largest share of proposed settlement zone changes.

The latest proposals continue a recent pattern of modifications to the Regional Plan 2021 through the Section 39A mechanism. These changes involve reclassifying land originally designated as cultivable land, natural cover, orchard zones and no-development slope areas into settlement zones. The process has already faced legal challenges in the past.

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The proposals were cleared at the TCP Board’s 232nd meeting held on May 4, with a 30-day period now open for public objections and suggestions.

The largest single proposal pertains to Tivim in Bardez, where Green First Estates Pvt Ltd has sought conversion of 52,858 sqm of land from cultivable and irrigation command classification into a settlement zone. The total land parcel spans 2.63 lakh sqm and also includes institutional and playground zoning components. The board has recommended approval subject to input from the water resources department.

Another significant proposal involves Socorro in Bardez, where Sun Hospitality and Service Apartments Pvt Ltd has requested conversion of two adjoining plots measuring 6,010 sqm from natural cover into settlement use, pending clearance from the forest department.

At Old Goa in Tiswadi, over 2,150 sqm currently classified as institutional zone has been proposed for conversion into settlement use, while multiple smaller approvals have been granted across Salcete locations including Varca, Curtorim, Colva and Ambelim. These include changes involving orchard land and natural cover areas.

One of the proposals at Colva involves a 1,058 sqm orchard plot recommended for conversion despite being impacted by an existing road alignment.

The notification also includes ecologically sensitive land categories. In Salvador-do-Mundo in Bardez, 225 sqm marked as natural cover and no-development slope has been proposed for settlement conversion, subject to forest department review. A similar case in Cortalim in Mormugao involves orchard land within a no-development slope zone being considered for reclassification.

The latest round of proposals adds to a series of Section 39A notifications issued in recent weeks, many of which involve reclassification of land originally earmarked as environmentally sensitive or agriculturally protected under the Regional Plan for Goa 2021.