CURTORIM: Terming the plots developed near the leprosy hospital in Curtorim as illegal, Town and Country Planning Department (TCP) has asked the village panchayat to initiate action over it as per provisions of the Panchayati Raj Act.
In a letter to the village panchayat, the town planner R M Borkar states that while the Town and Country Planning Department has found large scale development of the property bearing survey number 159, and as per the regional plan only a small portion of it the falls in settlement zone while the rest falls under orchard zone and no permission whatsoever has been obtained from the TCP for the development of the plots.
Further, the TCP has asked the panchayat to identify the persons involved in the illegal development of the property with their ownership documents and initiate action against the same based on the provisions of the Panchayati Raj Act.
Further, it has issued directions to direct the concerned party to stop the ongoing work forthwith and also display a notice board at the site that the development of the site is illegal. cautioning individuals from entering into agreements for purchase.
The TCP has also written to the Deputy Collector not to entertain any applications for the partitioning of the land, and also initiate action under LRC if admissible.
A panchayat source, however, has hit out at the TCP saying that the panchayat bodies are not competent as they are not technical bodies, questioning, “How does the TCP expect the panchayat to act over illegal cutting and landfilling?
The TCP should explain, the source said adding the TCP has washed its hands of the issue.
