Cong: norms flouted in granting nod to Parrikar’s son for eco-tourism project

NT NETWORK

 

PANAJI

The Congress party on Wednesday accused successive Bharatiya Janata Party-led governments of favouring Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s son Abhijat in clearing the proposal for setting up eco-tourism project close to Netravali wildlife sanctuary in Sanguem by flouting all norms of the Indian Forest Act and the Goa Investment Promotion Act.

The opposition party has also filed public interest litigation in the High Court of Bombay at Goa in the matter and sought appropriate order or direction from the court to quash the in-principle approval granted by the government to Parrikar’s son.

And, Congress also pleaded court to prohibit him from carrying out any further development in the property.

The Congress alleged that government machinery has been ‘used’ as well as ‘misused’ to make way for the particular project named ‘Hideaway Hospitality’ and claimed that the proponent of the project is Abhijat Parrikar.

“The government has considered this project without adequate materials and it was fast-tracked as Abhijat is a son of the Chief Minister,” said the chairman of the legal cell of the Congress Carlos Ferreira while addressing a press conference in Panaji.

He claimed that the project is coming up in an area admeasuring 83,625 square metres at an estimated cost of over Rs 1 crore.

He alleged that the approval of eco-sensitive zone was granted for the project without having a zonal master plan and claimed that the approval of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has not been obtained by Abhijat.

“Surprisingly IPB has granted in-principle approval for the project whereas there is no such concept under the Act,” Ferreira said. He said that the government passed an ordinance that there was no requirement in changing the zone of land for the projects related to eco-tourism in the state under the provisions of Section 42A of the Goa Town and Country Planning TCP Act, 1974.

Ferreira appeared before media along with the All India Congress Committee secretary in-charge of Goa desk Chella Kumar, party president Girish Chodankar, Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar and seven MLAs in the city, with photographs of the project site claiming massive deforestation, excavation, and erection of concrete structures.

He informed that in the petition they have prayed before the court to direct removal of all the structures and material and to carry out afforestation activity and restore the land to its original condition, under the direction of an expert environmentalist.

Senior Congress leader and Poriem MLA Pratapsingh Rane said that it is a blatant violation of the laws of the land adding, “The government should work to protect the forest and not destroy them.”