COMMITTEE TO CONDUCT ONSITE VERIFICATION OF DLF MEGA PROJECT AT DABOLIM

Chief town planner Morad Ahmed, asked DLF to stop hill cutting at its project site at Dabolim, said he will constitute a committee comprising an officer of the department and a person nominated by SOS and GBA to conduct an onsite verification. He added that he is willing to reconsider the permissions if the slope gradients are not as per law for development. DLF vice president of operations Ravi Rajan could not be contacted till late evening for his comments. Another official declined to comment, stating that he was not authorized to speak. A delegation of Save Our Slopes and GBA had brought to the notice of the CTP that this was a no development zone under RP 2021 and the ODP should be subservient to RP 2021. All works which are not permitted as per RP2021 should be kept in abeyance till the plan is finalized, the delegation maintained. Secretary of SOS Edwin Mascarenhas pointed out that no physical verification of the steep slopes was done and hence no permission could be given. GBA convenor Sabina Martins stated that the TCP should not have given permission as there was a court order which stated that an NOC from the forest department was required for development. The delegation alleged that no NOC from the forest department had been obtained.