Goa Minister Vishwajit Rane on Saturday said that the government is in the process of restorating 1 crore sq metres of ecologically sensitive land, designated as development zones, to "no development" areas across the coastal state.
Talking to PTI, the town and country planning minister said that corrections would be made in the Regional Plan 2021, which had shown the sensitive areas as development zones.
Rane said that the Town and Country Planning Board, which met earlier this week, has already notified 15 lakh sq metres in Chopdem, Arambol and Mandrem of North Goa as no-development areas.
He said that a team of experts have studied the Regional Plan 2021, and suggested corrections to the Town and Country Planning Board.
The minister noted that the Regional Plan, when it was drafted by the former government, had marked 9 crore sq metres of land in the coastal state as development zones.
He further stated that the department will declare all areas around riverbanks and slopes as no development zones, freezing them from further development.
The town and country planning department will also write to the concerned sub-registrars informing them about the decision to restore these lands.
Asked about human-animal conflicts, Rane, who is also the forest minister, said his department will draft a scientific forest management plan to ensure fruit-bearing trees are planted in forested areas so that wild animals do not venture into human habitation.
Published on April 25, 2026