Over 18,000sqm converted in Bardez under Sec 39A

Panaji: The town and country planning (TCP) department continues to grant final approvals for six zone change proposals under Section 39A of the Town and Country Planning Act. This week, the department gave the green light to convert 18,629 sqm of land to settlement zones, with the largest parcels concentrated in Sircaim and Mandrem.

Collectively, the six approvals indicate a continued concentration of land conversion activity in Bardez, which accounts for five of the six proposals, while Pernem accounts for the remaining large parcel in Mandrem.

The biggest conversion was cleared in Sircaim, Bardez, where a real estate developer secured approval to convert 5,410 sqm of orchard land to settlement. In an adjacent property, the same applicant received approval for conversion of another 4,745 sqm of orchard land, taking the combined conversion in the village to more than 10,000 sqm.

Smaller but notable approvals were also cleared in Bardez. In Marra, a 1,143 sqm plot of orchard land secured approval for conversion. In Nadora, two proposals for conversion of 675 sqm of cultivable land with irrigation command area and an additional 155 sqm under similar classification got final approval. Both these proposals at Nadora are subject to no-objection certificates from the WRD.

In Pernem, the TCP board granted approval to convert 4,656 sqm of orchard land in Mandrem to settlement, marking one of the larger single-parcel conversions in the latest notification.

The notification records that the proposals were previously published for public objections between Sept and Nov 2025. After considering the submissions, the TCP Board, in its meetings held on Feb 2, granted approval for correction in the Regional Plan of Goa 2021, which now has final govt approval.

Chief town planner Vertika Dagur said that the changes and alterations in the Regional Plan remain subject to the outcome of pending writ petitions before the Bombay high court.

The TCP’s final approval for land conversion comes even as the Enough is Enough movement led by former Chief Justice of the Allahabad high court Justice Ferdino Rebello increases pressure on govt to scrap Section 39A of the TCP Act.Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Bakrid wishes, messages and eid 2026