Mapusa land use: MMC seeks time

Saligao: The Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC), at a special meeting held on Wednesday, urged the member secretary of North Goa Planning and Development Authority (NGPDA), R K Pandita, to grant citizens 15 more days to file their suggestions and objections to the present land use map and register for Mapusa area.
In a public notice issued last week, NGPDA had announced a three-day extension of the original September 7 deadline on account of its offices being shut after a staffer tested positive for Covid-19.The MMC has now sought that this deadline be further extended by 15 days.
Last year, the high court had disposed of a PIL pertaining to the outline development plan (ODP) for Mapusa after NGPDA submitted that the plan would be revised. The PIL had challenged the demarcation of land assigned for town planning schemes for Mapusa in the ODP, and had pointed out that large tracts of agricultural and khazan land were to be diverted for non-agricultural purposes, an activity not permitted by law.