Panaji

The Goa government has decided that future construction approvals in designated developable areas will be granted strictly on a “need-based” basis, days after initiating measures to protect ecologically sensitive regions, including land along major riverbanks.

Speaking to reporters in Panaji on Saturday, Town and Country Planning Minister Vishwajit Rane said Goa has limited land available for development and its ecological balance must be protected while planning future growth.

He made it clear that no construction or development activity would be permitted in areas identified as no-development zones by the Town and Country Planning department and the forest department.

Rane said all applications for land conversion or development would now undergo careful scrutiny, and approvals would be issued only where genuine necessity is established.

“After assessing actual requirements, permissions will be granted only in deserving cases. Large-scale conversion of land for development will not be allowed,” he said.

The minister claimed that during his tenure, only around seven lakh square metres of land had been cleared for development, despite proposals seeking conversion of several crores of square metres.

Referring to the Regional Plan 2021, Rane said nearly 9.5 crore square metres had earlier been marked as development zones, adding that the present government was working to correct those planning decisions.

He also announced action against officials allegedly involved in classifying private forest land as settlement zones in Pernem taluka, stating that FIRs would be lodged in such cases.

Rane further said no construction permissions would be granted within 100 metres of hill slopes as part of efforts to strengthen environmental safeguards.

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Last week, the Goa forest department designated nearly 6.27 crore square metres of land along the Mandovi and Zuari river stretches as ecologically sensitive zones.