Memo to TCP on Dabolim Goa project

A delegation of Save our Slopes (SOS) and Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA) visited the town and country planning (TCP) office on Monday to handover a memorandum to the chief town planner as decided at the public meeting held in Cortalim on Sunday to protest an allegedly illegal project coming up at Dabolim.

A press note issued by the organizations on Monday states that the officials were, however, not present in the office despite the public announcement. Stating that the memorandum was nonetheless, in-warded by the TCP office, the SOS, with the support of the GBA, has decided that it will consistently visit the department’s office till permissions for the project are withdrawn, states the press note.

The memorandum has demanded the withdrawal of the hill-cutting permission given by the TCP despite the Regional Plan marking hills as no development zones. It further points out that no NOC was given by the conservator of forest for development on the forested hills, a mandatory requirement for development, and that the TCP’s permission is therefore a brazen illegality.

“The TCP also defaulted as it did not peruse the files of the project in the stipulated time and allowed the developer to avail automatic permissions under the deemed clause which says that if the authorities do not give permission within the stipulated time the party gets automatic permission,” states the press note.

The organizations have questioned the government at to how a project worth Rs 136 crore was allowed automatic permissions without scrutiny of files?

The delegation comprised of SOS convenor, Audoot Naik, GBA convenor, Sabina Martins, Claude Alvares from Goa Foundation, and environmental activists Fr Maverick, Miguel Braganza, Pravin Sabnis and Swati Kerkar.