PANJIM: With a Town and Country Planning (TCP) board meeting scheduled on Wednesday villagers of Calangute, Candolim have demanded that the meeting resolve to de-notify the outline development plan (ODP) of their villages and draft a new plan with people’s participation.
Villagers under the banner Candolim Residents and Consumer Forum (CRCF) on Tuesday held a media interaction in Panjim, wherein they pointed out that the High Court of Bombay at Goa, where the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the ODP is pending, has also passed strictures against the planning process initiated by flouting rules and regulations set under the TCP Act.
CRCF member Roshan Mathias said they call upon TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai, who is chairman of the board, to resolve to de-notify the Calangute-Candolim PDA at Wednesday’s meeting. “If the Minister is committed to Goem, Goenkar and Goenkarponn, then we request him to de-notify the plan in the interest of Goenkars,” he stated.
Mathias recalled that despite initial opposition to bringing the villages the under planning and development areas (PDAs), the villagers supported the cause after local MLA and chairman of North Goa Planning and Development Authority (NGPDA) Michael Lobo assured them that the PDAs and subsequent ODP is the only way to regularise illegal structures built by locals within the coastal regulation zone (CRZ) areas.
“However, later we realised that the MLA has fooled us, and that resulted into agitations and protest by us. If government does not pay heed to our demand than we will be forced to take to the streets in a big way,” he said.
