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WEEKEND UPDATES

Feb 28-Mar 06, 2026, WEEKEND UPDATES February 27, 2026 , by

GOA CHAMBER PROTESTS

THE Goa Chamber of Commerce has joined the Confederation of Builders Association to demand that the 152 conversions granted illegally under Section 39A should not be revoked. The GCCI insists that any such step would shake investor confidence in Goa. This is an admission that not just individuals but major corporates in the country have been involved in the huge land grab going on under the guise of Section 39A rectifications and the 700 plus increase in building height in Goa.

OLD GOA TOPS CONVERSION LIST

THE data put up by PhD student Tahir Noronha on the 152 conversions done under the now controversial Section39A, reveals that the largest number of conversions have taken place in old Goa. Old Goa accounts for conversion of 1.69 lakh sq mts. Many of the conversions are within the prohibited area of the Heritage Zone surrounding the UNESCO-recognized monuments of the Basilica of Bom Jesus and Se Cathedral.

Recently, the high court held that the huge bungalow built by Munira Chudasama, daughter of former sheriff of Mumbai  Nana Chudasama, was totally illegal and not a case of re-construction of an old structure as made out to be. There is also controversy over a huge palatial villa built by Pandurang Madkaikar, a close associate of Panjim MLA Babush Monserrate. Uday Madkaikar, his brother, is part of the Babush panel for the forthcoming CCP elections.

PROTESTS AGAINST LODHA PERMISSION

THE residents of Kalapur village in the  Bicholim taluka have started protesting against the panchayat issuing a building license for the mega  Abhinandan Lodha project which envisages construction of over a hundred farm houses set in areas of 5,000 to 10,000 sq mts with private swimming pool.  Much of the land on which the project is coming up was sold by Kharapur Agro, a company owned by Divya and Vishwajit Rane. Swapnesh Shrelekar, who is closely associated with the Goa Foundation and the Enough is Enough movement was detained by the Bicholim police for leading the protestors in the village who will be affected by the project.

BIRCH BY ROMEO CHARGESHEET

FINALLY, the charge sheet has been filed against the Luthra brohers and the owner of the property for causing the death of 25 employees and tourists in the devastating fire which took place in Arpora late last year. The sarpanch of Arpora, who surrendered after his bail was rejected, has also been charged with negligence. But the order for demolishing the nightclub Birch by Romeo Lane has been put on hold temporarily by the high court due to disputes over the ownership of the land. The Luthra brothers have sought bail from the high court.

MARATHI DRAMA SCAM

A GROUP of activists including veteran actor Prashanti Talpankar and artist Harshada Sonak have protested to the chairperson of the Kala Academy, Babu Kavlekar, against corruption in awarding the first prize to a group from Mumbai in a Marathi Natak Competition organized by the Kala Academy. It has been alleged that a bribe of Rs50,000 and a bottle of Scotch was offered to the Jury chairperson who was judging the natak competition. Former BJP MLA Babu Kavlekar has promised to make an enquiry.  

AARTI GHAT REVIVAL

UNDER pressure from the RSS Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has restored Aarti Ghat project at Narve on Divar island. Earlier, the project had been revoked, following protests from the local MLA Phaldessai. Now the CM claims that  the residents of Narve have approached him to go ahead with the project, since it will generate employment for the locals. The project had been proposed by the Tourism Department as part of the Spiritual Tourism project of the Central government.

CALLING GOVERNOR PUSAPATI RAJU!

THIS is to note that a joint delegation of Opposition leader from RG, Congress and AAP MLAs Venzy Viegas and Cruz Silva, president Valmiki Naik along with Leader of Opposition  Yuri Alemao met Governor Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Rajuat at the Raj Bhavan (now Lok Bhavan) on Feb 26 to urgently demand the convening of a special session of the Goa Legislative assembly to scrap Section of  39(A) of the TCP Act.

This was out of concern for the deteriorating  health of Revolutionary Goans’ MLA Viresh Borkar on an indefinite  fast at Azad maidan in Panjim from Feb21 (over on Feb27, six days water only fast), he was fasting for the repeal of Section 39(A) because the conversions done under this section would  majorly impact the ecology and environment of   a small coastal state like Goa. The delegation members conveyed the gravity of the situation to the governor and appealed to him to intervene in whatever he could.

AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal was also in Goa to boost the party’s victory in the elections coming up. While inaugurating an E-library in Benaulim the AAP leader also stressed on the importance of withdrawing such a draconian amendment to the TCP Act of Goa for this would majorly impact aam aadmi Goans. Such mega projects must be questioned instead of condoned by any government seeking the larger good of Goa’s environment.

Interestingly, the Delhi Court has discharged Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia in the corruption case related to alleged liquorpolicy scam. The scam has also rapped the CBI for implicating them without any evidence in the  voluminous chargesheet with many lacunae not supported by any witnesses or statements. We think more and more Goans would like the AAP to come to power in Goa for a change from the present scenario of people’s protests and the hardships being imposed through poor primary infrastructure vis-à-vis water shortages, power breakdowns and insensible public infrastructure forever falling apart. Goa needs a new government!

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