Goa: 62 land user change proposals allowed

The Goa government Friday allowed 62 proposals for change of zoning from 'orchard' to 'settlement', including one for a piece of land owned by Bollywood actor Nana Patekar.

Change of user ('zoning') from orchard to settlement makes it possible to carry out construction on the land previously reserved for agricultural purposes.

Town and Country Planning (TCP) Minister Vijai Sardesai said Patekar's land at Khorjuvem village in North Goa district was categorised as orchard land in the Regional Plan 2011.

Now, except for a part marked as eco-sensitive, conversion of the land from orchard to settlement has been allowed, he said.

The TCP department's Board which met Friday approved a total of 62 proposals of zoning change, he said.

The Goa government recently amended section 16-B of of Town and Country Planning Act, allowing certain zoning changes after stringent scrutiny.

Sardesai said that zoning change proposal of Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar's wife Megha was also approved.

She had sought zoning change of 1,000 sq metres of land at Dhargalim in North Goa's Pernem tehsil.

Ailing BJP MLA Pandurang Madkaikar's younger brother Dhaku Madkaikar's proposal was also approved, he said.