Panaji residents have asked the city mayor and the North Goa Planning and Development Authority (NGPDA) to reject five proposed NBCC redevelopment projects, alleging that the capital’s drainage, water and electricity networks cannot support additional development.
People for Panaji secretary Chryselle Dias made the request in a letter to Panaji mayor and NGPDA chairperson Rohit Monserrate. The group alleged that the government was applying different infrastructure standards to public projects and private development proposals.
“While infrastructure like drainage, water, electricity are not available for private housing societies, the same seem to be in abundance for PPP projects of govt with the NBCC and other govt projects,” Dias said in the letter, according to the report.
The objection refers to the draft Panaji Outline Development Plan (ODP) 2031. Dias said the planning authority had rejected 44 requests from private parties seeking land-use changes after the ODP report identified limits in the city’s existing drainage network and stated that water and electricity supplies could not support a higher population density.
The concerns have been raised against a wider redevelopment programme involving Goa and NBCC (India). The state and the public-sector construction company have entered into a contract for seven redevelopment projects, including Junta House, the Circuit House at Altinho, two government residential quarters at St Inez and a government garage. The citizen group has specifically sought rejection of five of the projects, although the report does not identify each of those five proposals separately.
Dias questioned how Panaji’s existing infrastructure could accommodate the proposed developments when the planning authority had cited capacity constraints while assessing private applications. She also raised concerns about the infrastructure requirements of projects that would increase water and wastewater demand, including hotels with swimming pools.
Among the developments mentioned in the letter are a proposed five-star hotel with more than 500 rooms at Miramar and a Mini-Convention Centre planned along Rua de Ourem creek. The letter questions whether the city’s existing networks can support these projects alongside the redevelopment proposals already being considered.
The issue has also emerged amid a deficient southwest monsoon in Goa. Dias urged Monserrate to consider the rainfall deficit together with Panaji’s infrastructure limitations while assessing the projects. The appeal places responsibility for the immediate planning decision with the NGPDA, whose chairperson has been asked to examine whether the proposed developments are compatible with the capacity identified in the draft ODP 2031.