Goemkarponn Desk
MARGAO: Protesting against widespread and unlawful land conversion, environmental activists under the leadership of Goa Bachao Abhiyan called for the immediate repeal of the TCP Act’s amendments as well as the conversion of land.
Additionally, they insisted that regional planning follow laws pertaining to sustainable development and be carried out with public participation.
The GBA, specifically, also insisted on the termination of the chief town planner’s extension of authority and the establishment of an investigation into duty neglect.
The forum stated that steep slopes, fields, orchards, and forests are being converted without careful planning, pointing out that the TCP Act’s amendments—including the 16B, 17(2), and 39A—allow for gradual zone changes.
According to the statement, Section 39A even goes so far as to eliminate public interest in the modifications that make the Town and Country Planning Act relevant and a government obligation to its constituents.
The GBA emphasized that all plans must stem from a master plan with guiding scientific definitions and that the amendments treat some citizens as more equal than others through the fee for zone changes, in addition to the amendments’ destructive power of enabling random zone changes.
