Is there continuity in governance? That is the question which arises from decisions taken in the past days especially in the Town and Country Planning Department. From a cursory glance, it does appear that there is no such continuity. Town and Country Planning Minister Vishwajit Rane first decided to review all the decisions taken based on the Section 16-B amendment to the Town and Country Planning Act, and followed it up by suspending the Outline Development Plans for 60 days to rectify discrepancies. These are not actions of continuous governance and surprisingly they come not from a different government but one that has been re-elected to power. Only the minister has changed.
There is, however, another issue involved here, which is whether the decisions taken will be good for the State. As pointed out by the minister, the move is to ensure proper scrutiny is undertaken on the touchstone of procedures and law governing the domain of planning area to the core. In this there appears to be a consensus among those involved in the business. Professionals in the real estate and construction segment have welcomed the decision of suspending the Outline Development Plans (ODPs) to weed out discrepancies arguing that this will ensure sustainable planning within the ambit of town planning rules. This does signify that there were discrepancies in the plans. If so, why did the former government accept this and notify them?
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An architect Herald spoke to went on to say that the Outline Development Plans were prepared without planning process and against the basic principles of town planning. If this was the case, how was it even allowed to happen that way? If the current government is going to rectify this and follow the rules laid down then the decision to suspend the Outline Development Plan has to be acceptable, but the unanswered question is why were the plans notified (there are some still in the draft stage) if they were so wrong? Will Goa get an answer to this question?
Taking a more pragmatic look at the situation, now that the ODPs have been kept in suspension for a 60-day period and a committee appointed to review and weed out the discrepancies, will the government take suggestions from the stakeholders and replace the earlier outline development plans with inclusive ones that incorporate the views of the citizens, especially in the areas of protection of the environment and heritage? The least that is expected out of this exercise are plans that meet all the rules and adhere to all urban planning models. If that does not occur, resulting in plans that are flawed, then the 60-day period of suspension of the plans and all the efforts put in to alter them will have gone to waste.
The other question is how will this exercise of suspending and reviewing the plans benefit Goa in the long term. Will it bring a positive change to the lives of the people with better planning of the towns and modern ideas in urban areas? Ultimately, it is the people that matter and what they require should be focus of all government plans and projects. As per the minister, the government intends to have merit oriented and perfectly documented plans. There can be no argument on that. But to gauge whether this does happen, it will take another two months at the least.
Continuity in governance may face a setback here, but if the decision results in improved Outline Development Plans then there can be no reservations against it. That will be revealed in the months ahead, when the committee presents its report to the government and when the latter acts on it. Until such time, the citizens can merely wait in hope that the changes in the plans will be positive.
