A man in Goa, Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar, claims a part of his land was turned from a salt pan into a settlement zone without his knowledge. The land had a nightclub called Birch by Romeo Lane, which caught fire on December 6, killing 25 people, mostly staff and some tourists. Mr. Amonkar said he signed a sale deal in 2004 with Surinder Kumar Khosla, but it was canceled after six months because he did not get paid. Khosla then set up the nightclub, which was later owned by Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra. For 21 years, Mr. Amonkar has been in court trying to reclaim his land, which he says is wrongfully occupied. He told PTI, "For 21 years, I have been fighting in courts to get back my land in Arpora, which has been wrongfully occupied." Recently, he found out the government changed the zoning of his land from a salt pan to a settlement zone without notifying him. "How can a salt pan be converted into a settlement zone?" he asked. No notice of this change was given to him during the ongoing legal battle. He discovered the zone change on December 11, 2025, while preparing documents for a High Court case related to the fire tragedy. A senior official from Goa's Town and Country Planning department said an inquiry is underway, so they cannot comment on the allegations yet.