GOA: Nearly two weeks after TOI exclusively reported that govt will introduce a bill to protect the town and country planning (TCP) department against judicial scrutiny of land conversions under the ODPs (outline development plans), TCP minister Vishwajit Rane on Monday withdrew the controversial Goa Town and Country Planning (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2024.
The bill was withdrawn following disagreements within the cabinet over the objective of the bill. Rane also withdrew three other bills.
The bill, which was introduced last week, aimed “to protect the TCP against judicial scrutiny of land conversions under the ODPs and take powers of planning and development authorities (PDAs) in case the ODPs are withdrawn”.
I want to clarify that I have not inserted a validation clause in the bill. The validation clause was a suggestion of the law department and it was not the suggestion of my department. Because of this, there is a sentiment among the people that we are running the govt in the form of a dictatorship,” Rane said.
The decision to withdraw the bill came after significant differences of opinion among cabinet members regarding its implementation and potential consequences.
TOI was the first to highlight that in case the bill is passed, it would allow for largescale constructions, conversions and zone changes that would change the contours of the five villages that “fall within the highly eco-sensitive areas under the environment protection legislation”.
During the cabinet meeting on Monday afternoon, ministers opposed the passing of the bill and expressed their reservations on how it could be misused. Tourism minister Rohan Khaunte was the first to raise the issue at the cabinet and oppose Rane for passing the bill. Khaunte said that highrise buildings have come up in his constituency without the Penha de Franca ODP being approved.
Khaunte said that if the bill is passed in its current form, then it would lead to slope cutting, which is detrimental to the environment. Joining the discussion, revenue minister Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate opposed the passing of the bill.
Monserrate told CM Pramod Sawant that in case the bill is passed, then in the next assembly election BJP will be reduced to single-digit MLAs. Rane tried to justify his decision to introduce the bill, but due to pressure from cabinet colleagues and the suggestion of the chief secretary, he agreed to withdraw it.
The bill aims to nullify any court verdict that is against the approvals granted for zoning and conversions based on ODPs for the Calangute-Candolim Planning Area and the Arpora-Nagoa-Parra Planning Area. Once the act is amended, the bill said, no suit or any other proceedings “shall lie or be maintained or continued in any court challenging such approvals or certificates or reports”.
The bill added, “Anything done or any action taken or purported to have been done or taken, under or for the purposes of the principal act on the basis of the said ODP or regional plan, as the case may be, shall be deemed to have been validly done or taken in accordance with law as if the provisions of Section 19 of the principal act, as amended by this act, had been in force at all material times.”
The Bombay high court had stayed the Goa Town and Country Planning (Amendment) Ordinance, 2024, which was deemed to have come into force on Dec 16, 2022. Other bills which have been withdrawn include the Goa Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) (Amendment) Bill, 2024, the Goa Municipalities (Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the City of Panaji Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
