Pilerne citizens threaten to go to court

Photo: Savlem.jpg (Photo credit: Joaquim Fernandes)
PANAJI: The Pilerne Citizens Forum (PCF) has threatened to approach the high court if its village panchayat fails to heed the directives of the town and country planning (TCP) department and the block development officer (BDO) to stop work on a large residential project in survey number 206/2 on the edge of the Savlem lake in the village.
Briefing mediapersons at the construction site on Sunday, PCF members said the NOC of the TCP department to the project is illegal. Although the outline development plan (ODP) clearly indicates that survey number 206 is demarcated as agricultural land, it has been claimed that the TCP department issued the NOC stating that it is a settlement area.
"This is in complete contravention of the zoning shown in the department's own ODP. Interestingly, an application under the Right To Information (RTI) Act was made for the TCP's conversion recommendation report on September 10 last year, following which the PCF got a reply that the report was lost," stated a press release.
Following an appeal, the PCF finally managed to obtain a copy of the report in December. It states, "As per the ODP, the area proposed for conversion is located in a settlement zone." However, PCF members on Sunday displayed both, the ODP as well as the draft regional plan (RP) 2021 for Pilerne. In both, the area marked under survey number 206/2 has been shown as agricultural or orchard land.
Upon taking up the issue with the chief town planner recently, the TCP office at Bardez was asked to hold the NOC in abeyance until the matter was investigated. An order to this effect was conveyed to the sarpanch and the secretary of the Pilerne panchayat by the Bardez town planner Vertika Dagur on February 9.
With the panchayat failing to heed the directives, the PCF approached the Bardez BDO. Taking cognizance of the panchayat's refusal to issue an immediate stop work order to the project in survey number 206/2, the BDO also directed the panchayat to "take immediate neccessary action." However, this seems to have been ignored as PCF members on Sunday showed mediapersons how work has continued unabated.
Pointing out to yet another lapse on the part of the panchayat, the PCF said that the Pilerne gram sabha had, on two occasions, resolved to protect the Savlem lake and its surroundings. However, they said that subsequent to this, the village panchayat issued a construction license to the builder. "The villagers are agitated that a beautiful lake is being destroyed, villagers of Pilerne said.