IANS

Panaji, Mar 17: A leading civic rights group Tuesday alleged irregularities in granting permissions to a mega housing project promoted by Delhi-based infrastructure firm DLF and has called the role of Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat in the deal as "extremely suspicious".

"As head of the town and country planning (TCP) department, his (Kamat) role is full of suspicion, especially the manner in which permissions were given for the DLF's mega housing project in Daholim," Sabina Martins said during a press conference.

sabina is convenor of the Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA), a leading rights organisation which serves as an umbrella for several NGOs promoting planned development,

The DLF mega residential project which envisages the construction of 600 top-of-the-range houses along the hill slopes of the picturesque village of Dabolim, 30 km from here, has triggered a huge controversy with several politicians and bureaucrats being accused of turning a blind eye to numerous illegalities allegedly committed by the promoters in executing the project.

"The entire project is being constructed on a slope which is a 'no development zone'. Large scale tree felling was carried out without permissions from the forest department. And the TCP itself gave the project permissions using the 'deemed' provisions," Rebonie Saha, secretary of the GBA, said.

The TCP, which authorizes and finalizes plans for development projects, is presently headed by Kamat, who is also the chairman of the TCP Board, which is the authority for clearances.

Targeting Kamat for the slew of illegal construction projects in Goa, Martins said that not one of the assurances given by the chief minister over checking illegal constructions in the state had been delivered by him.

Kamat, who was elected to power in 2007, had been forced to scrap the controversial 'Regional Plan 2011', which envisaged conversion of large tracts of land from orchard or green categories to settlement zones.

However, the inordinate delay by Kamat in putting into place an alternative regional plan 'Regional Plan 2021' for Goa had only worked in favour of the real estate lobby, who were making merry thanks to the delay, the GBA said.