Protest forces govt to stop work of Carambolim mega housing project

NT Reporter Panaji

A day after protesters agitated at the Town and Country Planning (TCP) office in Panaji against a proposed mega housing project coming up in Carambolim, Minister for Town and Country Planning (TCP) Vishwajit Rane Tuesday announced that a show-cause notice and a stop work order have been issued to the project.

All construction activity at the site has been ordered to be stopped with immediate effect until further orders, the TCP Minister said in a statement released on Tuesday. The TCP Department has directed the project promoters to submit their version within seven days.

“Development in Goa will proceed strictly as per law. Any deviation from prescribed norms will invite decisive action. There will be no compromise on statutory compliance,” Rane said.

The show-cause notice cum stop work order has been issued by Deputy Town Planner Manguirish Verenkar to Ravi Gohil and Rameshchandra Gohil, the promoters of the mega project, with a copy marked to the village panchayat  of Carambolim.

The notice states that the office of the Deputy Town Planner received a complaint on December 4, 2025, from villagers of Carambolim alleging that the TCP Department had illegally issued technical clearance for the proposed construction without following the process of law.

It further states that a joint site inspection was carried out on December 5, 2025, and that the complainants/ villagers had pointed out that the distance from the existing crematorium platform to the proposed project building did not appear to be as per the rule. The complainants had also said that the proposed right of way of road of 15 metres and 10 metres towards the southern and western sides of the property and the existing road as required were not available as per the site condition.

It may be noted that hundreds of villagers from Carambolim led by Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP) St Andre MLA Viresh Borkar had marched to the TCP headquarters at Patto in the city on Monday demanding stoppage of the project work, citing violations and misrepresentation of facts by TCP officials. Several social activists, environmentalists and the Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao had also supported the day-long protest.

The locals had withdrawn the protest late Monday evening only after an assurance given by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant that a show-cause notice and a stop work order would be issued to the project.