Panaji: The town and country planning department has approved the designation of 23,02,189sqm of land across five large tracts as non-developable area under Section 39A of the Town and Country Planning Act, with the bulk of the land concentrated in Tiswadi and comprising mangroves, salt pans, khazan areas and paddy fields.The five proposals cover land at Ella, Santa Cruz, Mormobi-O-Pequeno and Murda in Tiswadi, and Navelim in Salcete. Together, the properties account for more than 23 lakh sqm.The largest tract is a 13 lakh sqm parcel at Mormobi-O-Pequeno, where the published land use comprises mangroves, salt pans, khazan and paddy fields. The TCP has approved it as a non-developable area, excluding the area acquired by govt.The notification, dated Aug 12 and published in the official gazette records the final approval of the five proposals following their consideration by the TCP board and govt.But the changes come with a significant legal rider with the TCP department reiterating that the alteration of the Regional Plan 2021 will be subject to the outcome of PIL writ petition nos. 53 of 2024 and 54 of 2024, pending before the Bombay high court. The court has fixed the final hearing for the PILs on Aug 25.Of the total land marked as non-developable areas, 17.4 lakh sqm is in Tiswadi, which is about 75.8% of the area covered by the five proposals.The Mormobi-O-Pequeno tract alone accounts for more than half of the entire area covered by the notification. At Mormobi-O-Pequeno, the 13 lakh sqm tract is described collectively as comprising mangroves, salt pans, khazan and paddy fields. The 3,37,058sqm tract at Santa Cruz contains a combination of paddy fields, water bodies, khazan, mangroves and salt pans, besides orchard and mixed land-use parcels.The notification specifically records several survey numbers as mangroves and others as water bodies, salt pans and khazan land before designating the overall property as non-developable area, again excluding existing settlements.At Ella, the 1,02,500 sqm property is presently classified partly as settlement and orchard, with portions affected by institutional zones and archaeological parks. The TCP department has approved it as a non-developable area, excluding existing settlements in the properties.The only proposal outside Tiswadi is the 1,03,200 sqm tract at Navelim in Salcete.
