SUNDAY, MAY 19, 2024
Team Herald
MARGAO: The Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department has notified the Outline Development Plans (ODP) 2031 of the Margao and Ponda planning areas respectively.
This decision to approve the two plans was taken during the TCP Board’s 196th meeting held on February 13, which was chaired by TCP Minister Vishwajit Rane. Following this, the TCP notified the two plans.
“The said ODPs-2031 of Margao and Ponda Planning Area shall be subject to the provisions of 'The Goa Land Development & Building Construction Regulation 2010' as amended from time to time,” Chief Town Planner Rajesh Naik said.
This assumes significance given the multiple objections to the draft Margao ODP and even after the South Goa Planning and Development Authority (SGPDA) had finalised the plan and sent it to the TCP for approval, there were claims by citizens that their objections were not addressed and they were not given a hearing. There was a public demand for the ODP to be kept on hold but with the latest development, these citizen groups are considering their future course of action.
It may be recalled that the Margao and Ponda ODPs have been under preparation since 2018 with multiple attempts made to draft and modify the planning areas.
When the SGPDA was headed by former chairperson Renuka Da Silva, it was finalised and notified as the Margao ODP — 2028 in 2019, only for the Pramod Sawant-headed BJP government to reopen the ODP in 2021 to prepare the ODP for 2032.
While prior to the State elections, the SGPDA had received several applications for change of zone along with over 160 objections, after the elections, the TCP Minister Vishwajit Rane decided to suspend all ODPs in the state due to the complaints of irregularities.
Thus, the ODPs were kept open once again for suggestions and objections.
It may be noted that before Krishna Daji Salkar became the SGPDA Chairperson, former Nuvem MLA Wilfred D’Sa was the Chairperson before the State elections. Once Salkar took over, members of the SGPDA board had been changed.
