PANAJI: The tourism state of Goa is seeking to restrict the sale of land to outsiders who flock to the coastal belt to set up retirement and holiday homes due to a rising tide of newcomers.
Lawmakers fear the local ethnic population will become a minority by the year 2021, pointing to the number of migrants moving to the former Portuguese colony.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar led a delegation from the state to national capital New Delhi on Wednesday to express concerns to the central government and request special powers to restrict land sales.
A memorandum submitted by Parrikar to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that “the unrestricted immigration and whole-scale transfer of land is beginning to submerge the unique Goan identity”.
Goa, with its long sandy beaches and laid-back atmosphere, has been a haven for tourists since the days of the hippie trail in the 1960s and 1970s.
In recent years the state has stopped signing sale deeds for foreigners seeking properties, although it is technically allowed if they have business visas and the sale involves non-agricultural land.
But the area has also become an increasingly popular spot for retirement and holiday homes for Indians from outside Goa.
“This has led to a huge boom in building activities in the state in the last 10 years or so,” Parrikar said, pointing out that more than 20 percent of Goa’s houses are vacant and are most likely second homes. One-third of Goa’s 1.6 million residents are migrants from elsewhere, he said.
AFP
