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DISMANTLING GOA WITH `BHAYALACHO’!By Dr Olav & Deborah Albuquerque
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DISMANTLING GOA WITH `BHAYALACHO’!By Dr Olav & Deborah Albuquerque

April 25- May 01, 2026, LAW April 24, 2026 , by

THE escalating legal and social battle over Section 39A of the Town & Country Planning (TCP) Act reached its apogee in April 2026 because of “spot zoning” —where the government can reclassify green zones (orchards and forests) as settlement areas on a case-by-case basis.
 This facilitates builders from Mumbai and Delhi to build indiscriminately for the benefit of wealthy class “moneybags” from Delhi, Mumbai and elsewhere to buy bungalows or flats in skyscrapers which are priced beyond the financial capabilities of the average Goemkar.
This conflict has now reached the high court of Goa, sparked mass protests at Azad Maidan, and drawn sharp criticism from retired judges who call it “unconstitutional.” Chief Minister Pramod Sawant obliquely referred to those who protested including the retired Allahabad high court Chief Justice Ferdino Inacio Rebello as an “urban Naxal” without naming him for leading a protest under the banner of “Enough is Enough.” And for raising a 10-point charter of demands apart from other protests. Apparently, those who voice dissent will automatically be tarnished as “urban Naxals.”
Goa is currently witnessing what many are calling its “last stand.” From the pristine hills of Chandor and Salvador do Mundo to the courtrooms of the high court of Bombay at Goa, the stink of Section 39A permeates through the drawing rooms of Goans. This provision of the Town & Country Planning (TCP) Act has become the flashpoint for a legal and social upheaval to permanently alter the state’s ecological and cultural fabric.

MECHANISM OF “SPOT ZONING”
THE heart of the controversy is “spot zoning.” Under Section 39A — notified in 2024 and aggressively utilized throughout 2025 and 2026 — the Chief Town Planner has been conferred with the power to modify development plans through case-by-case approvals. In simpler terms, it allows the government to bypass the long-term Regional Plan and “spot” a piece of land — often an eco-sensitive orchard or a forested hill — and reclassify it as a settlement zone for luxury villas or mega-projects. So, Goa can be sold lock, stock and barrel to “moneybags” from Delhi and Mumbai and elsewhere.
 This “backdoor entry” for the real estate mafia, by allowing changes without the mandatory public consultation or village-level consent of the panchayats, usually required for Regional Plan amendments, is making all the gram sabha impotent, silent spectators.

ALERTING THE JUDICIARY
THE legal weight against Section 39A is mounting. In mid-March 2026, retired Bombay High Court Judge Gautam Patel declared this provision is “frontally and fundamentally unconstitutional.” He warned that Goa is being “dismantled bit-by-bit,” with the law serving as the tool for its destruction.
 The High Court is currently flooded with Public Interest Litigations (PILs). Just this week, on April 22, 2026 the court issued notices to the state government regarding similar “illegal” approvals, including a controversial vessel entry in the Mandovi river that exceeds legal length limits. The nexus between rapid land conversion and the bypassing of environmental safety norms is the common thread in these legal battles.

ZONING & FSI
THE legal jargon of “zoning” and “FSI” translates into grim reality for Goan villagers. In February 2026, hundreds of protesters occupied the Town & Country Planning department offices, while others gathered at Panaji’s Azad maidan. Their demand was simple: a total repeal of Section 39A and the 10-point “People’s Charter” to save Goa’s hills and khazan lands.
 “We are fighting for our identity,” says a resident of Palem, a village currently battling a massive land conversion on its outskirts. “If our orchards become concrete jungles today, there is no Goa left for our children tomorrow.”
The government, led by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and TCP Minister Vishwajit Rane, maintains that these changes are necessary for “ease of doing business” and economic growth. Minister Rane has hit back at critics, accusing former administrations of even larger-scale conversions, effectively turning the environmental crisis into a political blame game.

THE HERITAGE FACTOR
THE controversy isn’t limited to green fields. It has seeped into Goa’s heritage zones. The Supreme Court is currently hearing a case regarding an “illegal” bungalow in the protected heritage zone of Old Goa, where the Archaeological Survey of India’s (ASI) demolition orders have been stalled by a series of legal manoeuvres
Simultaneously, a new row has erupted over the renaming of the 16th-century Pelourinho Novo (New Pillory) to Haath Katro Khambo in official gazettes. Local heritage committees and historians have filed legal objections, claiming the name change is based on political interpretation rather than historical validation.

GOA AT CROSSROADS
AS of April 2026, Goa sits at a precarious intersection. On one side is the push for rapid urbanization and real estate “modernization,” facilitated by swift legislative amendments like the Goa Land Revenue Code (which reduced land conversion disposal times from 60 to 45 days). On the other is a growing, desperate movement of citizens, environmentalists, and legal experts who see these laws as a death warrant for the state’s environment and ecology.
 The coming months in the high court will be decisive. Will the judiciary strike down Section 39A as unconstitutional, or will the “spot zoning” continue until the green map of Goa is entirely gray?

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