Goa
,
Sancoale, Mormugao
,
South Goa
Published : 12 July, 2014   |   Last updated - 24 Jun, 2024
Goa Residents Oppose Mega Housing Project Citing Environmental Concerns, Burden on Infrastructure
Reported by
Anamika Gode
Legal Review by
Anmol Gupta
Updated by
Anupa Kujur
Households affected
People Affected
2015
Year started
201
Land area affected
Households affected
People Affected
2015
Year started
201
Land area affected
Key Insights
Sector
Infrastructure
Reason/Cause of conflict
Township/Real Estate
Conflict Status
Ongoing
Ended
Legal Status
Region Classification
Urban
Ended
1
Summary

The residents of Sancoale village in Goa have been opposing the construction of a mega housing-cum-commercial project, named Adora De Goa, spread across 20 hectares. The proposed project will offer sea-facing residential homes, retail spaces with high-street coffee shops, restaurants, spa and boutiques. A full-fledged hotel/service apartment is also proposed to be built and operated by "The Park Hotels".
Construction of the project started in August 2019. In September, hundreds of residents from Cortalim constituency, along with environmental activists, held a peaceful protest rally from Chicalim to Sancoale plateau to oppose the project.
The residents have alleged that the land was leased by the original owners, Communidade of Sancoale (an association with collective ownership of land), to agro-chemical firm Zuari for setting up an industry, but the land was fraudulently sold off by Zuari to a real estate company. The people in the village have opposed the project since 2016 citing it an environmental and infrastructure burden, especially with regard to water and electricity.
According to the Environmental Impact Assessment, submitted to the Goa State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority in 2016, the daily requirement of water for the project during the operational phase will be 2,285.33 cubic metres per day, equivalent to the daily water requirement of two to three villages in Goa. The sewage output is expected to be 1,433 cubic metres per day, which will finally trickle down the villages of Sancoale, Chicalim and Dabolim and destroy the wells, ponds and other water bodies. Solid, non-biodegradable waste generated per day from the housing project will be around 2,243 kg.
"This single project is equivalent to three medium-sized villages in Goa in terms of population affected, water consumption and waste generated. This is against the principle of sustainable development. We do not want such destructive projects on our land which our ancestors have preserved for us," Swapnesh Sherlekar, co-convenor of Goencho Avaaz, told LCW.

The still under construction housing project is expected to be completed by 2023. A real estate broker, who is based in the area and did not wish to be named, told LCW that, “the construction is going on at the same spot. Many units are almost ready and several people have already purchased flats at the property.” He added that the protests against the projects have stopped as all the permits are in place. Records on the Goa Rera website show that the Panchayat has approved the project. While protests on ground against the protest have ended.

Captain Viriato Fernandes, a member of the Indian National Congress and who was part of the protests earlier as a member of the Goencho Avaaz, told LCW that, “some people who were opposing the project compromised; one by one, they started backing out. The panchayat members, who had pledged their support, backed out. We were told that they were taken care of.”

2
Fact Sheet

Demand/Contention of the Affected Community

Refusal to give up land for the project

Opposition against environmental degradation

Demand to retain/protect access to common land/resources

Other Demand/Contention of the Affected Community

Region Classification

Urban

Type of Land

Common

What was the action taken by the police?

How many people did the police detain or arrest?

What is the current status of the detained/accused persons?

Did the person face any violence while in police custody?

If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?

If the accused was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, or not produced at all, what were the reasons?

Legislation under which the accused was charged

Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?

In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?

Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?

Were there any other notable irregularities that took place, or other significant details?

Details of sources (names of accused, names and numbers of any lawyers, names of any police officers contacted)

Status of Project

Project underway despite protests

Original Project Deadline

Whether the Project has been Delayed

Significance of Land to Land Owners/Users

Other Natural Resource extraction/dependence, Other environmental services

Whether the project was stalled due to land conflict

Source/Reference

Total investment involved (in Crores):

500

Type of investment:

Investment Expected

Year of Estimation

2018

Page Number In Investment Document:

1

Has the Conflict Ended?

Yes

When did it end?

October/November 2019

Why did the conflict end?

Community forced to give up their demand by the opposing party

The people who were protesting the project backed out of the protests.

Author
Reported by
Anamika Gode

Goa

Kumar Sambhav is a social entrepreneur and award-winning journalist, leading innovative research in accountability investigations. He is the founder of Land Conflict Watch and is currently working as India Research Lead with Princeton University’s Digital Witness Lab.

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Fact sheet

Demand/Contention of the Affected Community

Refusal to give up land for the project

Opposition against environmental degradation

Demand to retain/protect access to common land/resources

Goa Residents Oppose Mega Housing Project Citing Environmental Concerns, Burden on Infrastructure

Reported by

Anamika Gode

Legal Review by

Edited by

Updated by

Updated by

Malavika Neurekar

Published on

September 23, 2019

May 13, 2024

Edited on

May 2, 2023

September 23, 2019

Sector

Infrastructure

Reason or Cause of Conflict

Township/Real Estate

Starting Year

2015

Land Area Affected (in Hectares)

201

ha

Households Affected by Conflict

People Affected by Conflict

State

Goa

Sector

Infrastructure

People Affected by Conflict

Households Affected by Conflict

Land Area Affected (in Hectares)

201

ha

Starting Year

2015

Location of Conflict

Sancoale, Mormugao

South Goa

Reason or Cause of Conflict

Township/Real Estate

Land Conflict Summary

The residents of Sancoale village in Goa have been opposing the construction of a mega housing-cum-commercial project, named Adora De Goa, spread across 20 hectares. The proposed project will offer sea-facing residential homes, retail spaces with high-street coffee shops, restaurants, spa and boutiques. A full-fledged hotel/service apartment is also proposed to be built and operated by "The Park Hotels".
Construction of the project started in August 2019. In September, hundreds of residents from Cortalim constituency, along with environmental activists, held a peaceful protest rally from Chicalim to Sancoale plateau to oppose the project.
The residents have alleged that the land was leased by the original owners, Communidade of Sancoale (an association with collective ownership of land), to agro-chemical firm Zuari for setting up an industry, but the land was fraudulently sold off by Zuari to a real estate company. The people in the village have opposed the project since 2016 citing it an environmental and infrastructure burden, especially with regard to water and electricity.
According to the Environmental Impact Assessment, submitted to the Goa State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority in 2016, the daily requirement of water for the project during the operational phase will be 2,285.33 cubic metres per day, equivalent to the daily water requirement of two to three villages in Goa. The sewage output is expected to be 1,433 cubic metres per day, which will finally trickle down the villages of Sancoale, Chicalim and Dabolim and destroy the wells, ponds and other water bodies. Solid, non-biodegradable waste generated per day from the housing project will be around 2,243 kg.
"This single project is equivalent to three medium-sized villages in Goa in terms of population affected, water consumption and waste generated. This is against the principle of sustainable development. We do not want such destructive projects on our land which our ancestors have preserved for us," Swapnesh Sherlekar, co-convenor of Goencho Avaaz, told LCW.

The still under construction housing project is expected to be completed by 2023. A real estate broker, who is based in the area and did not wish to be named, told LCW that, “the construction is going on at the same spot. Many units are almost ready and several people have already purchased flats at the property.” He added that the protests against the projects have stopped as all the permits are in place. Records on the Goa Rera website show that the Panchayat has approved the project. While protests on ground against the protest have ended.

Captain Viriato Fernandes, a member of the Indian National Congress and who was part of the protests earlier as a member of the Goencho Avaaz, told LCW that, “some people who were opposing the project compromised; one by one, they started backing out. The panchayat members, who had pledged their support, backed out. We were told that they were taken care of.”

Fact Sheet

Demand/Contention of the Affected Community

Refusal to give up land for the project

Opposition against environmental degradation

Demand to retain/protect access to common land/resources

Other Demand/Contention of the Affected Community

Region Classification

Urban

Type of Land

Common

Type of Common Land

What was the action taken by the police?

How many people did the police detain or arrest?

What is the current status of the detained/accused persons?

Did the person face any violence while in police custody?

Did the person face any violence while in police custody?

If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?

If the accused was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, or not produced at all, what were the reasons?

Legislation under which the accused was charged

Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?

In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?

Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?

Were there any other notable irregularities that took place, or other significant details?

Details of sources (names of accused, names and numbers of any lawyers, names of any police officers contacted)

Status of Project

Project underway despite protests

Original Project Deadline

Whether the Project has been Delayed

Significance of Land to Land Owners/Users

Other Natural Resource extraction/dependence, Other environmental services

Whether the project was stalled due to land conflict

Source/Reference

Total investment involved (in Crores):

500

Type of investment:

Investment Expected

Year of Estimation

2018

Page Number In Investment Document:

1

Has the Conflict Ended?

Yes

When did it end?

October/November 2019

Why did the conflict end?

Community forced to give up their demand by the opposing party

The people who were protesting the project backed out of the protests.

Legal Data

Categories of Legislations Involved in the Conflict

Environmental Laws, Procedural Laws

Legislations/Policies Involved

Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 2006
Schedule 1, Item 8e: [This is a category B project and requires clearance as project exceeds 20,000 square metres]
Code of Comunidade, 1961
Article 30(4)(f): [Power of the Comunidade to deliberate on the sale of land]
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    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.

Whether claims/objections were made as per procedure in the relevant statute

What was the claim(s)/objection(s) raised by the community?

What was the Decision of the Concerned Government Department?

Legal Processes and Loopholes Enabling the Conflict:

Violation of environmental laws

Legal Status:

Out of Court

Status of Case In Court

Whether any adjudicatory body was approached

Name of the adjudicatory body

Name(s) of the Court(s)

Case Number

Main Reasoning/Decision of court

Major Human Rights Violations Related to the Conflict:

No items found.

Reported Details of the Violation:

Date of Violation

Location of Violation

Additional Information

Government Departments Involved in the Conflict:

Goa Town and Country Planning Department, Goa State Environment Impact Assessment Authority

PSUs Involved in the Conflict:

Did LCW Approach Government Authorities for Comments?

Name, Designation and Comment of the Government Authorities Approached

Corporate Parties Involved in the Conflict:

Provident Housing Limited, Puravankara Limited, Larsen and Toubro, Trinitas Realtors India LLP

Did LCW Approach Corporate Parties for Comments?

No

Communities/Local Organisations in the Conflict:

Residents

Information on the use of criminal law

What was the action taken by the police?

How many people did the police detain or arrest?

What is the current status of the detained/accused persons?

Did the person face any violence while in police custody?

If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?

If the accused was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, or not produced at all, what were the reasons?

Legislation under which the accused was charged

Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?

In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?

Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?

Were there any other notable irregularities that took place, or other significant details?

Resources

Resources Related to Conflict

  • News Articles Related to the Conflict:
  • Documents Related to the Conflict:
  • Links Related to the Conflict:

Images

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