Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: A Panaji-based builder was fined Rs 5 lakh by the Goa Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) for failing to register with the Authority. Additionally, the complainant, the Colva Civic and Consumer Forum, represented by its president Judith Almeida and secretary Shakuntala Mesquita, was ordered to pay Rs 1 lakh in costs.
Under Section 59 of the RERA Act, Vincent D’Silva, a Goa RERA member, has instructed T R Constructions to pay the penalty amount within 60 days of the order being passed; if they don’t, appropriate action would be taken against them.
Additionally, he instructed the three respondents—Sonia Lemos, Tony Rodrigues, and T R Constructions to submit an affidavit detailing their compliance with the order within two months of its issuance. If they do not, the Authority will take further legal action under the RERA Act to enforce the order.
The respondents allegedly sold five plots in Survey No. 119/2, Ward-I of Colva Village, Salcete, where they had carried out two phases of plotted development totaling 16,725 square meters. According to the regulations, there was no required board at the location that listed the developer’s name, licenses, rights, etc.
The project was predicated on a six-meter-wide projected road heading south, with the current access being only 3.50 meters wide. To the north of the project, the existing access was only 4 meters wide, but the proposed access needed to be 10 meters wide.
There is no room for road widening because both main highways are lined with a number of homes and boundary barriers. Plot subdivision was indicated on the ground, internal roads within the project were being developed, and a new internal road was constructed to connect the site to the main road.
That the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department, Margao, allegedly conspired with the respondents to approve the planned development site on April 20, 2023, even though the land’s contours did not support plotted development and there was no required primary access road.
