MARGAO: The Federation of Rainbow Warriors (FRW) has claimed that the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Minister is lying by saying that the errors on the Regional Plan had been rectified by his department before the plan was put for public review.
It is pertinent to note that TCP Minister Francis D’Souza was responding to FRW’s recent allegations of large-scale increase in settlement zones in the RP to help builders.
“The TCP Minister’s reply is a gross lie since the plans displayed are the same plans that were notified in 2010-11, and which carry the signature of Digambar Kamat, then TCP Minister. How can the TCP Minister be so ignorant as to not know that if the plans were rectified, he would have to sign them?” said Rony Dias, FRW president.
FRW has also claimed that no rectifications have been made despite thousands of serious lapses in the zoning plans being pointed out by citizens four years ago.
“The TCP Department, which has been accused by the past Chief Minister of being totally corrupt, has slept over the people’s representations, rather than acting upon them, collecting data, or carrying out studies,” stated Rony.
He continued, “We demand that the TCP Minister and Chief Town Planner resign in view of their incompetence and unsuitability for the most important task that the government has to undertake. We also demand that while maintaining status quo with regards to settlement zones (must be settlement in both RP 2001 and 2021), a moratorium be issued on all constructions in the State, except family dwellings.”
FRW has also called for a new plan to be prepared based on facts and challenges due to water shortages, weakening monsoons, increased risk of storms, droughts and floods, rising sea levels and the limited carrying capacity of Goa.
