*Yuri: 1,000+ Hill-Cutting Complaints Ignored, Illegal Plotting Rampant
*Rane: No Cultivable Land Converted, Will Act as per Law and Court Directions
Team Goemkarponn
Panaji: In a heated debate in the Goa Legislative Assembly, TCP Minister Vishwajit Rane announced that the government is working on bringing a stringent law to curb illegal land plotting and hill cutting, which will be introduced before the next Assembly session.
Responding to Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao’s accusation that the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department failed to act on over 1,000 hill-cutting complaints across the State, Rane acknowledged the large-scale violations and assured that his department will begin filing FIRs in all such cases. He noted that the department’s current powers are limited, but new legislation will empower stricter enforcement.
Alemao further raised doubts over the TCP’s approval records, pointing out a mismatch in plot numbers—stating that a government notice referred to 12 plots, while TCP claims only 11 were approved. Rane clarified that only 11 plots were officially sanctioned.
Addressing concerns about land conversions, Rane reiterated that no cultivable land has been converted under any section of the TCP Act. He elaborated that under the now-withdrawn Section 16B, zone changes were approved for one crore square metres of land through around 9,000 applications. Additionally, nearly 17 lakh square metres were approved for correction under Section 17(2) of the Regional Plan 2021, though the matter is currently pending before the Supreme Court. Under Section 39A, out of 950 applications, only 200 have been approved and 35 notified for zone change.
Rane assured the House that the government has full faith in the judiciary and will act as per the court’s directions. “If there are mistakes or errors, we will rectify them as directed by the court. We will wait for the judiciary to decide,” he said.
When pressed by Alemao on whether the government will draft a new Regional Plan for the State, Rane responded that the right decision would be taken at the appropriate time in accordance with the law.
