HERALD: What is your grouse with the SGPDA?
BABITA: I have no grouse. I am simply disheartened with the way, a planning and development authority is hurrying with the Outline Development Plan for Margao. I am saying, wait, let’s all take a little more time and plan it better. United Nations Development Goals, greener cities, fighting global warming means nothing, if we can sit and work our cities in a way to be efficient and better planned to conserve lesser resources. Near my Pathology laboratory in Margao, there is a sewage line leaking and its five days of road digging but the workers of the sewerage department can neither locate the line nor the leak. That’s what am I saying, let these plans be about, road widening, how we place our cables, our mobile towers, how we place our sewerage network, how we decongest areas around schools and hospitals, how we disallow commercial zones in residential spaces. That’s my grouse with the SGPDA, to let’s take more time and plan the city better for the people of Margao.
HERALD: But Mauvin Godinho says, he gave you time, since 2015 they’ve been after the MMC to reply to the draft ODP?
BABITA: In 2015, the MMC was going through polls, that followed with us being inducted into a new council, the communication from the SGPDA, never reached my office, until on November 05, the SGPDA asks me to come and file my objections to the ODP. Can I do it on the same day without taking my 25 member elected council in consultation? Can I study an entire plan in a few hours and make my objections. They’re government departments and have not acted on the ODP, then why hurry the ODP. I have reached out to the office of the SGPDA and that of Mauvin Godinho, but it looks like the SGPDA consisting of non-Madgavkar is in a hurry to finalize the plan and finalize all the illegalities of conversion of land to commercial in that plan. What is the hurry to extend the time?
HERALD: But your husband Dilip Prabhudessai is part of the sub-committee that worked on the objections of the plan. Couldn’t you break the ice there?
BABITA: Dilip was co-opted member and had no right to vote. All he did was make suggestions and continuously raise concerns on the problems in the conversions and the focus of commercial zones. The sub-committee had more people who were non-resident madgavkar’s and how can they plan for another citizen’s city and hence there was corruption. Also, so much of confidential information as to who asked for conversion and who objected was leaked out and known to the public, which means there was irregularity in the manner on how it was done.
HERALD: Does Babita say scrap the Margao ODP and redo it. Is that your stand?
BABITA: My stand is the stand of the people of Margao and their cry and their protest. If needed, we’ll turn to the courts but Margao will get a plan that its people deserve. Nobody is saying scrap the plan. I am saying let’s look into the lungs of the city, let’s have more green zones and areas where the city can grow trees and breathe, I am saying lets be mindful of the fields and water bodies in Mungul, Maddel, Khareband, Borda, Fatorda, parts of Davorlim, Navelim and Aquem. Let’s preserve the green cover we have and lets develop but in spaces where residents won’t be troubled. Let’s not scrap this plan but let’s all come together and coordinate a better plan. The MMC, SGPDA, Forest Department, Electricity and Sewerage Department and the PWD need to be in sync for a perfect plan otherwise what is the use of planning a disaster.
