Panaji, Feb 7 (TOI): Congress on Wednesday claimed that a public interest litigation has been filed in the high court of Bombay at Goa seeking quashing of in-principle approval granted by the Goa Investment Promotion Board in 2015 to an eco-resort at Netravali.

The petitioners—a deputy sarpanch and a member of Netravali panchayat—have filed the writ petition in the high court against Hideaway Hospitality, Congress said.

The party alleged that the PIL claimed that the eco-resort has destroyed the forest cover on its property and a site inspection should be conducted to verify the damage caused by the project.

“In the guise of eco-tourism, you cannot allow verdant forests to be destroyed,” said advocate Carlos Ferreira, who is appearing on behalf of petitioner Abhijit Dessai, a deputy sarpanch of Netravali panchayat.

“You (the state government) are trying, by an amendment to the Town and Country Planning Act, to override the central government notification and permitting destruction of forests,” Ferreira, flanked by Congress MLAs and office-bearers, told reporters.

Ferreira alleged that IPB approved the project without Hideaway Hospitality submitting site and contour plans, investment breakup and a detailed scope of the project. He also alleged that despite the zonal master plan for the eco-sensitive zone of Netravali wildlife sanctuary not being prepared, approval was granted to Hideaway Hospitality by the Goa State Eco-Sensitive Zone Monitoring Committee (GSESZMC).

“We have said approval could not have been granted until the zonal masterplan for the entire eco-sensitive zone was prepared. This has to be prepared in consultation with all stakeholders and submitted to the MoEF for approval. Only after it is prepared can GSESZMC can approve projects. This is the first violation,” Ferreira alleged.

The writ petition also argued that the GSESZMC gave its nod to Hideaway Hospitality, which has Abhijat Parrikar as a signatory, without conducting a site inspection.

“This is a blatant violation of the forest conservation act,” said former chief minister and Congress MLA Pratapsingh Rane.

Among the other violations alleged in the petition, Dessai and Ferreira claimed an ordinance was passed in November 2015, which said that any eco-tourism project in an eco-sensitive zone need not obtain conservation of land or change of zoning.

“You allow zone changing to take place by an ordinance. TCP Act was amended to exclude conversion of the land. An ordinance can only be recommended by the chief minister,” Ferreira alleged.