Panaji: Town and country planning minister Vishwajit Rane on Monday announced that the TCP department will not permit any construction or development activity within a 200-metre radius around Bondvoll Lake. He said that directions were issued to the TCP not to grant any permissions for buildings around the lake till the Goa State Wetland Authority clarifies the official status of the zone.Rane also said that no land around the lake was converted to settlement during his tenure and that the settlement areas shown around the lake were introduced as per the Regional Plan 2021.
“Unless and until the Wetland Authority sorts out the issue of the Bondvoll Lake area, directions were issued to the chief town planner that, till then, the TCP will not grant permissions within 200 metres of the lake. We will place this matter before the TCP Board,” said Rane.The TCP Board is scheduled to meet on Feb 18. “The Wetland Authority’s decision will be binding on us,” he said.Rane said that the TCP department did not issue any NOC or permissions for development in the area. The clarification comes amid concerns raised by environmentalists and local activists over construction in the vicinity of Bondvoll Lake. Residents demanded stronger safeguards for the water body and its surrounding ecosystem.A group of Santa Cruz villagers want the Goa State Wetlands Authority at Saligao to pursue their demand for notification of the area around Bondvoll Lake as its zone of influence. They also demanded the suspension and withdrawal of all technical clearances for projects granted around the notified wetland, as well as the suspension of additional FAR approved for any project there.Activists met the TCP minister to request that the 200-metre buffer should be maintained around Bondvoll Lake. “Instead of fighting with different builders, and since the Wetland Board is yet to decide what is required, we decided to meet the minister to tell him not to give permissions for construction within the 200 metres around the lake. He agreed to take a decision at the TCP Board, and we found it quite reasonable,” said St Cruz activist Arturo D’Souza.Rane brushed aside queries about the TCP repealing Section 39A of the TCP Act, as demanded by the Enough is Enough movement launched by retired Allahabad Chief Justice Ferdino Rebello.“Govt does not take decisions because someone is telling us. Govt functions democratically. It cannot bring out a march and walk on the streets. Otherwise, 10,000 people can be brought from Sattari. If someone wants something, they should stand for elections, win, and form govt, and then take all the decisions that they want,” said Rane.
