TCP dept ‘corrects’ 31,928 sqm, paddy fields included

Panaji: The Town and Country Planning department on Thursday converted 31,928 sqm of land, from paddy fields to natural cover, across the state in the Regional Plan 2021 based on applicants’ requests. This includes the conversion of 12,866 sqm of settlement land in Queula village in Ponda taluka that has now been “corrected” and earmarked for institutional use.

The TCP department said that applications were scrutinised by the department’s planners and a registered professional. The department’s report and the professional’s assessment were submitted to the government for review before the notification was issued, said chief town planner Vertika Dagur.

In total, the TCP changed the zone classification for eight plots, with six being converted to settlement areas for residential purposes. The conversion was effected after the department determined that the zone classification in the Regional Plan 2021 was “inconsistent and incoherent”.

The TCP has given the green light to convert an 8,650 sqm plot in Navelim, marked as a paddy field, to now be used for settlement and residential purposes. At Salvador do Mundo, an 825 sqm plot has been corrected to a settlement zone.

A 725 sqm plot and a 1,321 sqm plot at Sao Jose de Areal, earlier classified as paddy fields, have now been converted to settlement zones. At Reis Magos, a 330 sqm plot and a 460 sqm plot have been converted from natural cover to settlement areas.

A 6,751 sqm settlement zone in Bandora, Ponda, has been converted to an institutional zone.