PANAJI: The Bombay High Court on Thursday issued notices to the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department and its scrutiny committee regarding amendments to the Goa Land Development and Building Construction Regulations, 2010. These changes enable the Goa government to approve applications for relaxations on height and floor area ratio (FAR) restrictions, diverging from the current standards outlined in the regulations.
The division bench comprising Justices Bharti Dangre and Ashish S. Chavan issued the notice in response to a petition from the Goa Foundation and residents from Margao, Panaji, Chimbel, and Pernem. The petition challenges the building relaxations granted to various real estate developers throughout Goa following the implementation of these amended provisions.
The petitioners argue that the legitimacy of over 739 relaxations approved by the TCP department is questionable. They contend that the amendments permit significant and arbitrary increases in FAR and height on an individual plot basis, bypassing public review.
They proceeded to inform the High Court that the amendments were enacted without adequate assessments of their environmental, social, and planning impacts, disproportionately benefiting a select few at the cost of the broader community. The petitioners stated that allowing discretionary relaxations without broader public notification violates Article 14 of the constitution and constitutes a misuse of power.
The petition claims that these relaxations essentially represent zone changes, allowing development intensities typical of higher zoning categories.
The amendments, as characterized in the petition, seek to effect plot-specific intensification in a manner not permissible under existing law and thus request that these changes be declared invalid.
The High Court has granted the respondents four weeks to submit their replies, with the next hearing scheduled for November 17.
Senior counsel Norma Alvares represented the Goa Foundation, alongside advocates Om D’Costa, Malisa Simoes, and Sherwyn Correia.
