Fresh data on land conversion under the hotly debated Section 39A of the Town and Country Planning Act have been released. Nearly 17 per cent of the land proposed for settlement conversion has now been officially notified.
TCP Minister Vishwajit Rane, pushing back against his opponents for citing incorrect statistics, shared these details in response to a question from Congress MLA Adv Carlos Fereira during the recent Assembly session.
A review by goanews.com shows that the TCP department has received a staggering 1,264 applications, collectively seeking to convert nearly 75 lakh square metres of land—precisely 74,99,351 square metres.
Of these, 168 applications have reached the final notification stage, covering approximately 13 lakh square metres—or, to be exact, 12,85,530 square metres.
Source: Assembly Reply
Click to read a pdf file of the table
In Canacona taluka, while just three applications have been processed and notified, the area involved surpasses 3.27 lakh square metres. Intriguingly, 3.23 lakh square metres owned by Vishant Prabhudesai were reclassified from settlement to natural cover, orchard, and No Development Slope.
As in previous years, much of the land proposed for conversion includes orchards, natural cover, paddy fields, and No Development Slopes.
Pernem taluka tops the charts, with 18.85 lakh square metres of land targeted for conversion, of which 2.61 lakh square metres have already been notified for settlement.
Bardez follows closely, with 17.20 lakh square metres up for conversion, and 2.70 lakh square metres already approved as settlement.
The coastal talukas of Mormugao, Salcete, and Tiswadi—part of the Old Conquests—together account for about 20.25 lakh square metres. Of this, 2.98 lakh square metres have already been cleared for settlement.
Meanwhile, the seven interior talukas of the New Conquests—Sattari, Bicholim, Ponda, Dharbandora, Sanguem, Quepem, and Canacona—have collectively sought to convert roughly 18.70 lakh square metres of green land for settlement purposes.
From these areas, 4.56 lakh square metres have already been notified for settlement. Notably, however, no application from Sattari or Dharbandora has been approved yet.
