PANAJI: The Town and Country Planning (TCP) department continues to approve zone change proposals under Section 39A of the Town and Country Planning Act. Recently, the department greenlit the conversion of 18,629 sqm of land to settlement zones, mainly in Sircaim and Mandrem.
The approvals reflect a significant concentration of land conversion activity in Bardez, with five of the six proposals located here, while Pernem holds the remaining site in Mandrem.
The most extensive conversion was authorized in Sircaim, Bardez, where a developer received permission to change 5,410 sqm of orchard land to settlement. Additionally, the same applicant got approval for another adjacent 4,745 sqm, totaling over 10,000 sqm in the village.
Noteworthy approvals also occurred in Bardez, including a 1,143 sqm orchard plot in Marra and two proposals in Nadora for converting 675 sqm and 155 sqm of cultivable land. These Nadora proposals await no-objection certificates from the WRD.
In Pernem, the TCP board approved the conversion of 4,656 sqm of orchard land in Mandrem to settlement, marking it as one of the larger conversions in the recent notification.
The notification notes that the proposals were open for public objections between September and November 2025. After reviewing these submissions, the TCP Board granted approval for corrections in the Regional Plan of Goa 2021, now finalized by the government.
Chief Town Planner Vertika Dagur remarked that changes to the Regional Plan depend on pending writ petitions before the Bombay High Court.
The TCP’s approval for land conversion comes amidst rising pressure from the Enough is Enough movement, led by former Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court Justice Ferdino Rebello, urging the government to repeal Section 39A of the TCP Act.
