The Town and Country Planning (TCP) department of Goa has initiated a landmark process to classify over 82.8 lakh square meters of land across the state as non-developable areas. This marks the largest such move in recent years, aiming to protect ecologically sensitive and fragile land parcels from future development.
Notification Under Section 39A
A fresh notification issued under Section 39A of the Goa Town and Country Planning Act proposes the conversion of large tracts in Salcete, Mormugao, Sattari, and Pernem into non-developable area classifications. The proposals were approved by the TCP board during its meeting on May 4, with a 30-day window for public suggestions and objections.
Key Land Parcels Identified
The single largest parcel identified in the notification is in Keri, Sattari, where 65.31 lakh sqm of land has been recommended as non-developable. This land comprises natural cover with no-development slopes and areas overlapping irrigation command zones across multiple survey holdings.
The second largest proposal is in Mandrem, Pernem, where 6.44 lakh sqm of orchard land and orchard land with no-development slopes has been proposed as non-developable. The notification covers a large cluster of contiguous survey holdings in the coastal village.
Role of the Forest Department
The department appears to have acted based on the recommendations of the forest department. TCP Minister Vishwajit Rane stated, "Whatever the forest department has proposed to us, where there is an ecologically sensitive area, where construction should not be allowed, we have marked it for no development. Uninhabited areas that are there will be protected for posterity. Land on the banks of the Zuari and Mandovi and other small rivers will be protected. The main thing is that the forest department has taken such a historic decision for the first time."
Protection in South Goa
In South Goa, extensive stretches of ecologically sensitive coastal land in Majorda and Gonsua, both in Salcete taluka, have also been proposed for protection. In Majorda, around 2.5 lakh sqm has been identified for non-development zoning. The notified area includes sand dunes, orchards, paddy fields, water bodies, and land falling under irrigation command areas. Several plots already classified as sand dunes and fragile coastal terrain are included in the proposal.
In neighbouring Gonsua, another 1.95 lakh sqm has been proposed as non-developable area. The land largely comprises khazan land, paddy fields, orchards, and low-lying irrigation-command areas spread across a large number of survey holdings.
Conservation of Low-Lying Areas
Rane added, "Low-lying areas, paddy fields of around 10 crore sqm of land will be maintained and protected and other than farming, nothing else will be allowed to be done there." As part of the conservation process, 6.63 lakh sqm on Sao Jorge island in Mormugao taluka, which is presently classified as protected and reserve forest with heritage landscape features, has been formally designated as a no-development zone.
Action Against Unauthorized Conversions
The minister said that he has given directions to the TCP department that all the salt pans should be identified as no-development zones and any construction should be sealed. "Nobody should be able to do what Birch did by converting salt pans to settlement in the Regional Plan. How did Birch get permission to set up in a salt pan?" said Rane.
Shift in TCP Policy
Unlike recent TCP notifications that largely focused on converting orchard, natural cover, and paddy fields into settlement zones, the latest notification shifts in the opposite direction. The move comes as anger grows against the TCP department's piecemeal conversion of orchards and natural cover. Eight days earlier, the TCP department moved to classify over 28.4 lakh sqm across Bardez and Pernem as non-developable areas under Section 39A of the Town and Country Planning Act while retaining the land in settlement zones in the Regional Plan 2021.
