After a long hiatus, the Town and Country Planning Board met on Monday and took up 67 applications for zone change under section 12 of TCP Act for consideration. A total of 82 applications were received by the department, of which, nine applications were rejected and four were deferred, said TCP minister Chandrakant Kavalekar.
Kavalekar told reporters that of the 67 applications taken up for consideration, 49 applications are for plots which are smaller than 500sqm while 18 applications pertain to plots larger than 500sqm.
“We have not considered any land which falls in Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) or No-Development Zone (NDZ) or private forests or if the land is partly zoned then we have asked for inputs or reports from the concerned departments,” Kavalekar said.
At least 20 applications received by the department sought change in zone for plots that are smaller than 300sqm.
The nine applications for change of zone were rejected as the land is categorised as forest area, paddy fields, NDZ and private forests.
As per the provisions of Section 16B of the Town and Country Planning Act, the TCP board is empowered to change zones in the regional plan. The TCP Act was amended in 2018 to add Section 16B and it became a huge source of controversy for its potential for misuse and was subsequently challenged in the high court.
The board also received two applications from individuals asking for roads shown in their property to be deleted. “We gave preference for smaller plots. There are some areas which were paddy fields, marked as private forests, partly orchard land or forest land which we have rejected,” said the minister.
Kavalekar also said that a few appeal cases against decisions taken by the Planning and Development Authorities were heard but no decision was taken.
“We got a few cases for appeals against decisions taken by the PDAs for which we had hearings. There were three hearings. We have heard their appeals and in the coming 15 days we have sought reports on the cases,” said the deputy chief minister.
