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The Bombay High Court has struck down Section 17(2) of Goa's Town and Country Planning (TCP) Act, criticising unchecked land-use conversions in Bardez taluka, including Calangute and Candolim. Between March 2023 and early 2024, over 353 approvals reclassified 2.65 million sqm of orchards and paddy fields into settlement zones-bypassing planning norms and public scrutiny. The court called the move 'disastrous,' highlighting systemic failures in Goa's urban planning. This follows past judicial interventions halting Outline Development Plans and the 2021 Regional Plan notification. While the Goa government has appealed the decision, the ruling marks a win for civic groups seeking transparent, eco-sensitive development.
The Bombay High Court has delivered a scathing indictment of the Goa Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department, cancelling Section 17(2) of the TCP Act and exposing the deep-rooted failures in the state's urban planning process. The ruling directly impacts several villages in the Bardez taluka, including Calangute, Candolim, Arpora, Nagoa, and Parra regions that have seen rampant land-use changes under questionable legal provisions. Advertisement
The court found that between March 2023 and earlier this year, 353 land conversion proposals were approved under Section 17(2), leading to the transformation of over 2.65 million sqm of land. Most of these conversions involved orchards, paddy fields, and other ecologically sensitive areas, which were reclassified into settlement zones bypassing both the Regional Plan and due public scrutiny. The court criticised this practice as 'disastrous,' observing that it effectively mutilated the planning framework meant to protect Goa's environmental and heritage zones.
This isn't the first time Goa's planning mechanism has come under legal scrutiny. In earlier rulings, the High Court had paused Outline Development Plans (ODPs) for key coastal villages and even struck down the controversial 2021 notification for the Regional Plan. The pattern of judicial intervention points to a larger issue of frequent legislative amendments to the TCP Act enabling unregulated, spot-level zoning to benefit private parties.
The now-invalidated Section 17(2), introduced in 2023, allowed applicants to directly request zone changes in notified plans. This followed the 2018 introduction of Section 16B, which allowed landowners to propose conversions in the Regional Plan, and the more recent Section 39(A), which provided yet another layer of discretionary powers. These provisions cumulatively weakened the integrity of Goa's planned development, leading to fragmented decisions largely benefiting individual developers or politically connected stakeholders.
Despite repeated public objections and warnings from urban planners, the TCP Department continued to entertain land-use changes in protected areas raising doubts over the department's independence and adherence to planning norms. The Goa Bachao Abhiyan and other civic groups had previously flagged these issues, arguing that such unchecked changes would turn Goa into a 'concrete jungle.' The High Court's latest ruling validates those concerns.
Adding another dimension, the Supreme Court had also raised red flags in the past, cautioning the state not to destroy its unique landscape under pressure from vested interests. Although the Goa government has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the High Court's decision, the hearing has been postponed to late July. Until then, the High Court's ruling stands, creating uncertainty for hundreds of pending applications involving similar land conversions.
This development is likely to hit real estate interests in the Bardez belt, where rampant land reclassification has fuelled construction activity in recent years. However, many in civil society view the ruling as a significant victory for transparent governance and environmentally responsible planning. With growing scrutiny, both legal and public, Goa's urban development model may now be compelled to shift from piecemeal permissions toward comprehensive, rule-based planning frameworks.
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