Goemkarponn Desk
PANAJI: Town and Country Planning (TCP) today has revoked the technical clearance issued for the construction of controversial Old Goa bungalow in 2016.
“The promoters of the bungalow had indulged in fraud and hiding of information right from the beginning. He said that the permission was given only for the repairs but the owners constructed a huge ground plus one structure at the site,” said TCP Minister Babu Kavlekar
He further said that there was fraud in ownership of the land while seeking permission. Hence, TCP has revoked the technical clearance for the project.
TCP order states that the property under reference was already sold at the time of applying for Technical Clearance and it was is quite clear that the said owner could not have obtained the permission which implies that the permission was taken fraudulently and by misrepresentation of fact, thus attracting the action as stipulated under condition No.2 of the Technical Clearance Order dtd. 18/10/2016″
“the permission granted shall be revoked, if any information, plans, calculations, documents and any other accompaniments of the application are found incorrect or wrong at any stage after the grant of the permission and the applicant will not be entitled for any compensation.” the order states
The citizens who have been agitating against the project that has come up in a protected area in Old Goa also said they are waiting to see hard copies of the orders given by various government departments concerned in writing as opposed to just listening to the verbal assurances that have been given.
The Old Goa Panchayat in its meeting held today has resolved to issue stop work order to the controversial construction of the bunglow in the world heritage site buffer zone.
Sarpanch Janita Madkaikar said that the panchayat has also resolved to issue show cause notices to the project proponent as to why the renewal licence as well as the house number allocated for the structure should not be revoked.
The construction of a bungalow has been undertaken by a fashion designer who is a BJP functionary in Mumbai. Agitated over the State government’s inaction against the construction of a bungalow in the heritage precinct of Old Goa, the citizens from all parts of Goa and from all ages are currently on hunger strike.
Old Goa has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It is also recognised by the Archaeological Survey of India. The church in Old Goa is an architectural masterpiece and attracts a large number of tourists.
“The illegal construction is nearing completion. If such type of construction is encouraged then it will set a precedent to continue illegalities,” the locals said
CRZ and archaeological survey documents describe the land where the illegal structure has been built as orchard property.
