THE expose by the Indian Express of two state ministers, one Union minister, BJP politicians and several real estate companies in Goa, which have raked in crores due to the Town & Country Planning Act amendments to convert green zones into settlement zones, is nothing new. This comes close on the heels of the Goa government objecting to the advertisement titled “Delhi Rulers of India, Now Conquer Goa” by the Abhinandan Lodha group.
The Home department reportedly wrote to the manager of the real estate group, directing the company to withdraw the controversial advertisement without delay. The Home department warned the government would initiate legal steps if the advertisement was not immediately withdrawn.

THREE BACKBONES
THE three backbones of the Goan economy are mining, tourism and agriculture which is a synonym for land. Land prices in Goa have skyrocketed because those from Delhi and ministers like Smriti Irani want to buy second and third homes in Goa for themselves and their children.
It is because Niz Goemkars sell their ancestral land and bungalows at dirt cheap rates to outsiders that there has been a change in demography in Goa with outsiders from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka and the BIMARU states multiplying in Goa. Very soon niz goemkars will turn into a minority in their own home state with outsiders owning land and bungalows that once belonged to them. Singing and dancing, which is what Goans are famous for, does not ensure their ancestral bungalows and lands will remain protected from outsiders.
In March, 2023 the Town & Country Planning Ministry in Goa inserted Section 17(2) to the Goa Town & Country Planning Act, 1974. Under this section provision the government is empowered to change “erroneously” zoned plots in the existing Regional Plan 2021 on payment of a fee and charges. The rules framed under Section 17(2) enable private individuals to file applications to seek correction of such allegedly wrong zoning of their plots in the Regional Plan 2021.
A person could apply to change the “orchard land” which he owned to settlement zone or any other category. Within four months of the March notification, 1.82 lakh square metres of Goa’s natural cover was converted into settlement land on the pretext of corrections, earning several hundred cores for the real estate lobby.

LUCRATIVE PORTFOLIO
THE Town & Country Planning Department can be termed as a “lucrative” portfolio because money does exchange hands when green zones are converted into settlement zones to allow construction activity, where real estate companies construct quickly, sell at exorbitant rates and exit as quickly as they entered.
TCP minister Vishwajit Rane, who is the son of former Goa chief minister Pratapsingh Rane, has been accused of carrying out the amendments in the TCP Act to benefit the real estate lobby. The other minister named is Environmental Minister Aleixo Sequeira and Union Minister of State Shripad Naik. BJP MLAs Deviya Rane, Pravin Arlekar, and ex-BJP supporter Avertino Furtado have also been named as beneficiaries.
The hard-hitting expose in the “Indian Express” states the changes to the TCP Act such as sections 17 (2) during Vishwajit Rane’s tenure, it was to facilitate Goans where there were errors in zoning to benefit non-Goan real estate companies and politicians.
The Opposition political parties such as the Congress and AAP alleged there was a politician-real estate nexus. What is a fact is that TCP Minister Viswajit Rane and his wife Deviya Rane, who are directors of the Goa- based Karapur estates, got clearance to convert 11,580 square meters of land at Savrona, 515 square metres of land from cultivable land to the settlement zone in Karapur which is located in Bicholim taluka.

NEW LIABILITY
IT is wrong for those in authority to assume that they have a right to create permanent changes in land usage and create new liability on future generations of the people of Goa. The expose comes close on the heels of Goa Chief Secretary Puneet Kumar Goel buying a bungalow at Aldona which was allegedly illegally built. The chief secretary himself signed the file converting the land from paddy field to settlement zone with his sale deed carrying his photograph prominently displayed as a buyer, with the Power of Attorney given to his son to execute the transaction.
This came soon after DGP Jaspal Singh was shunted out of Goa following his order to demolish a house by using his police officers, by threatening to implicate them in NDPS cases if they did not cooperate. Singh allegedly wanted to do a favor to the husband of Pooja Sharma who is married to a RAW operative.
What we cannot deny is that Goans sell their ancestral bungalows and ancestral lands for peanut prices, which is then bought by outsiders from Delhi and elsewhere through middlemen at exorbitant prices, to be used as second homes when they want to take a break from the fast life in Delhi. A large number of old Goan ancestral bungalows have already been bought by these bureaucrats who fly to Goa for holidays.
Over the past few years Goa has witnessed rapid infrastructure development with the construction of highways and even a second airport. This has resulted in a massive influx of people with property prices sky rocketing in Goa. If the present change of land usage continues Goa as we know it will be destroyed, it’s natural, abundantly lush green and cool climate and historical architecture, will soon become a distant memory for Goans!