Goa Velha mega project will get TCP notice: Vijai Sardesai

PANAJI: Town and country (TCP) planning minister Vijai Sardesai on Friday inspected a residential complex coming up at Goa Velha and sought all documents regarding the project.

Acting on the grievances of local residents and local MLA Francisco Silveira, Sardesai said that he would issue a show cause notice to the project proponent and would take a decision on the matter in another 8-10 days.

“The point is this, Pilar is a heritage monument and there should have been a buffer,” Sardesai said. “This buffer has not been kept and instead the builder has built the project rampantly.”

Though the TCP minister refrained from taking a decision, he said that prima facie, certain rules appear to be flouted. He ordered the TCP department officials to scrutinize the plans and to identify if any violations had been committed.

“We will go completely into the process to see if the hill cutting permission has been adhered to and if there is the slightest fault, this project is going to be stopped. We will check contours and everything. They have permission, but the permissions may have been obtained fraudulently,” Sardesai said.

Locals and priests from the Pilar monastery have objected to the residential project. The issue was brought up in the last session of the state legislative assembly and Sardesai had given an assurance that he would look into the project.

Silveira has demanded that the technical clearance given by the TCP department to the project should be revoked.

“It is a sensitive area and it is close to the religious site. They have taken an approval to construct a mega project with 350 flats. This will create a disturbance and future law and order problems,” Silveira said, adding that water scarcity was also a problem for the local residents.

“There was clear collusion between the builder and the powers that be in the department,” he said.