Panaji: The Regional Plan (RP) 2021, which was on the backburner, will be revived, town and country planning minister
Vijai Sardesai said. “We are contemplating releasing certain areas that fall outside the eco-sensitive zones. Obviously, this will be with the government approval,” he said.
Several MLAs, including former chief minister Pratapsingh Rane, had pointed out in the assembly that in the absence of a regional plan, illegalities were rampant in the state,
Sardesai said.
“As per our rough estimate, more than 1 crore sqm of land has been illegally converted to settlement zones and we need to stop this,” Sardesai told TOI. In just the talukas of Quepem and Sanguem, around 40 lakh sqm area has been illegally converted, he said.
Last monsoon, the government had decided to place the RP 2021 on the backburner saying it would start work on RP 2030. The Regional Plan is a land use plan envisaging a roadmap to regulate development in the state.
Stating that there was a long consultative process involved in formulating the RP 2021, Sardesai said it was not denotified and that the earlier government had decided to release land on case-to-case basis for development.
Asked about the delay in deciding on the issue, Sardesai said that while it was earlier decided to give approvals on case-to-case basis, “recent legal advise given to the government was that there was no legal provision for case-to-case basis”.
“Accordingly, the government decided to amend the
TCP Act, but now we’ll need to wait for the next session. On the other hand, there is rampant illegal conversion of land,” he said.
