The “storm” against their inclusion in the most vexed and controversial Greater Panjim Planning and Development Authority, (GPPDA) spreading through most of the villages included in the Greater Panjim PDA, is definitely more than a storm in a tea cup. It is spreading to vast swathes of the land and enflaming passions, reminiscent of the uprising against the Regional Plan of 2011.
Quite clearly, this isn’t a mob uprising. There may be signs that this has been orchestrated after the GPPDA was notified. But what emerged from the Gram Sabhas in Chimbel, Curca Bambolim-Talaulim and Siridao- Palem is that the rumblings and protestations against the inclusions in the newly carved Greater Panjim PDA had commenced way back in November in some of the villages, when it was known to everyone a Greater Panjim PDA was being created just for the benefit of Babush Monseratte, the defeated MLA of St Cruz, for his political resurrection.
At the Curca Bambolim Gram Sabha on Sunday, there were two important points made. The first representation was made to the government on November 14, 2017 against the inclusion of the village in the Greater Panjim PDA. A representation was also made, according to what emerged from the Gram Sabha to the TCP minister raising concern that that the nature of the village consisting of a large number of Scheduled Tribes and fishermen would alter if there was a spate of urbanisation. And then, in January, this year, the gram sabha of Curca Bambolim passed a resolution against its inclusion in the PDA and conveyed this vide a letter to the government on February 7. Hence the movement against its inclusion has not been restricted to public meetings and gram sabha resolutions. Three representations to the government, at the very least have been made from one village alone. And it doesn’t end there.
In Chimbel, villagers have said that PDA will threaten hilly areas around Kadamba valley, add to the acute water shortage and further add to the garbage and sewage woes which are not being addressed at present. And it is reported that members of the panchayat who also happen to be members of the Goa Forward party would resign from the party of the TCP minister and Goa Forward president doesn’t exclude Chimbel from the PDA.
Therefore St Cruz Village isn’t the only isolated case of what was described and objected to, as a “mob led” But it’s an uprising all right which has resulted due to lack of effective communication and interaction between the people and government. Babush Monseratte who will head the GPPDA hasn’t and is unlikely to, or even be in a position to, justify or defend the inclusion of pristine village areas in an urban planning body, especially when these villages were not a part of the Panjim PDA.
The logic of the inclusion needs to be explained to them because this has been thrust on the people. There has been a marked absence of dialogue with the people governed by panchayats, as institutions of local self government, who will now be governed by an urban body, with a different taxation and revenue paying system.
Thus the takeaways from the ground level situation go beyond the objections to being included in the Greater Panjim PDA. They involve the following:
1) Lack of response to intimations about Gram Sabha resolutions rejecting the inclusions of villages in PDA
2) Complaints of no response to direct representations vide letters
3) The propensity to conclude that the decision of including all these villages is absolutely water tight and irreversible.
In short what the people in these villages desire is a bottom up approach of decision making where questions and responses become a part of the template. It is the contrary template which is being followed, or political compulsions that are forcing this anti-people template to be followed, that is worrying.
The bottom line is clear. If the government is absolutely clear, confident, and justified that the decision taken is in the greater interests of Goan villages which will now be a part of the PDA, then sharing that confidence with the people and justifying it with logic and reason should not be a problem ever.
Conversation and dialogue with the people should be sought by government, even without the people asking for it.
