TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: Insisting that the government should freeze and re-examine all housing and development permissions granted as per 2021 RP and grant approvals only to single dwelling units as per VP 3 status till the finalisation of the Regional Plan, the Village Groups of Goa (VGG) have demanded that reputed town planner Edgar Rebeiro, who was part of the Task Force, head a qualified and well represented committee to finalise and notify the RP.
The VGG further demanded a return of all village plans to the villages with reason why their plans were not considered adding that any changes to the plan should be systematically done in a transparent and time-bound manner.
Addressing the media, VGG President Zarina da Cunha slammed the Parrikar government for the inordinate delay in putting the Regional Plan in place. She pointed out that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had supported the agitation against the Regional Plan when he was Leader of the Opposition, saying the BJP led government have failed to fulfil the promises made to Goans to finalise the Regional plan at the earliest.
Express concern over the various contradictory statements made by the government on the RP vis-a-vis the industrial and investment policy, VGG has reiterated its stand that the draft Regional Plan sent to the panchayat for its recommendations and rectification must be taken as its base. “The draft RP prepared and recommended by the village level committee after following due process and guidelines proposed and sent by the CTP to the respective panchayats and approved by the Gram Sabhas must be taken into consideration and where its not in sync with the larger plan of the State each VLC must be duly informed of the same so as to have transparency in planning. A plan for the State has to be holistic and not piecemeal with the various municipalities and ODP’s kept out of the Regional Plan,” Zarinha demanded.
Saying the government has not enacted appropriate legislation/amendments to translate people’s aspirations and people’s participation processes into law, she demanded that the government forthwith and immediately repeal/ revoke the legislations/ ordinances passed from the date the Task Force was constituted, such as the amendments to sections 16 & 16A of the TCP Act, the proposed Goa Panchayat Raj Act Amendment Bill 2009 and the Land Acquisition (Goa Amendment) Ordinance 2009.
“As of now, the entire Regional Plan process is proceeding outside of the space of law, making the process both arbitrary and open to challenge. And yet, instead of carrying out these urgent legislative changes, the government has demonstrated utter apathy towards this very important legislative duty,” remarked Franky Monteiro.
He said that Eco Tourism zones, marinas, helipads, MIZ ,health and education hubs are included in the 2021RP are pre planned real estate businesses with the corporate and politicians with vested interest at work and does not reflect in the draft RP and not people centric. “Large tracts of land can be forcibly acquired from the people just like Special Economic Zones and handed over on a platter to real estate sharks who appropriate people’s land and convert basic resources for people into commercial commodities,” he added.
Activist Delano D’Costa ridiculed the government decision to form a House committee as it is just a time buying and delaying tactic to hood wink the public because of pressure and lacks any determination or political will.
