Goa’s ‘correction’ clause is diverting land for builders, commercial projects

The orchard behind Tushar Gawas’s village in Siridao grows peppers, cashews, and medicinal plants on a hill that was once considered too steep to build on. On January 26, however, the government reclassified the land as a settlement, paving the way for its construction. Gawas filed an objection against the motion, but the government rejected it. They said his objections lacked detail.

The orchard in Siridao, in the coastal state of Goa, is one of hundreds of orchards, paddy fields, and hilly slopes – together the size of 133 football fields – to be recategorised as settlements, primed for setting up housing projects, establishments, and other types of infrastructure.

The provision allowing for such sweeping changes across Goa’s landscape is Section 39 (A) of the Town and Country Planning Act – a clause the government describes as a tool for correcting errors in existing land use plans.

The Town and Country Planning department is led by cabinet minister Vishwajit Rane, who, apart from holding the post of Town and Country Planning Minister, is also listed as a director of Karapur Estates, a real estate firm with a history of applying for zone changes.

So far, more than 9.5 lakh square metres of land have been re-classified as...

Read more