Team Herald
MARGAO: Citizens from across Goa, who converged at Lohia Maidan for a public meeting on the Regional Plan 2021, unanimously demanded that the RP21 be scrapped and a moratorium be imposed on all constructions, except individual dwelling units, until a new plan is in place.
At the end of the marathon meeting, which ended at night with a symbolic candlelight pledge, the citizens also demanded that the data be handed over to the village ward committees and that a plan be prepared by the people in accordance with the Constitution of India. They further resolved that the data on the environment, economic and social sectors be collected and updated – based on which the new regional plan should be prepared.
The public meeting was organised by Goans for Sustainable Development (GSD), which had earlier held a series of smaller meetings in panchayats across the State, and had made presentations on the adverse affects the RP21 would have on Goa. What stood out was the size of the crowd, which stayed till the end and listened to the various speakers with rapt attention.
Curtorim MLA Reginaldo Lourenco was the only MLA present in the audience, along with several activists. A large group of AAP volunteers were also seen distributing promotional chits at the gates of the venue.
Bardroy Barreto of Nachom-ia Kumpasar had prepared an audio-visual presentation on the theme of Earth Day, which accentuated the speakers’ calls to save Goa from destruction.
While there were many speakers, Agnelo Rodrigues of Goenchea Ramponkarancho Ekvott (GRE), Fr Eremito Rebello of Goans for Dabolim Only, Freddy Fernandes of Orixtt Porjecho Awaz (OPA), Prajal Sakhardande of Goa Movement for Special Status (GMSS) and GSD’s Abhijit Prabhudesai, Sidharth Kharapurkar and Diana Pinto punched holes in the government’s defence on the RP and other issues concerning Goa.
Agnelo was surrounded by a large group of ramponkars, who hit out at the government for going back on its promises. They went on to explain how the government’s plans for marinas would spell disaster for the fishing community and how the RP stood to affect their families, livelihood, land and water.
On the issue of water resources, Diana gave a presentation on how the current situation in the State had affected and depleted water resources and how the RP21 could threaten these natural resources and
the environment.
Like Agnelo, Fr Eremito also led a group, and in his speech, he called for all sections of society to unite to save Goa’s identity. He feared that in the years to come, with the influx of migrants and the builder lobby, the Goa of today would not be there tomorrow, and hence, it was important to protect the State.
While subtly referring to the upcoming elections, he called for a total revolution in politics and stressed on the need to elect leaders who are people-centric and would take up the genuine concerns and demands of the public, as ultimately they would represent the people.
On that note, he criticised the BJP-led coalition government for imposing plans that were against the wishes of the public and for going back on its promise made before the elections, which he called a betrayal.
Siddharth Karapurkar compared Goa’s future to that of Maharashtra, where areas were divided as east and west due to rampant real estate development. He added that the RP would pave the way for transforming Goa into a concrete jungle.
Abhijit Prabhudesai gave a detailed presentation with the help of maps of the talukas and villages, and stated that the people should be alarmed as they may not have realised the extent to which the government was trying to dupe them by making many changes to their villages in the RP, which would change the face of the village.
He highlighted how settlement zones were wrongly shown and how land would be lost to real estate projects. He pointed out how the roads as per the plan would mean the displacement of religious and educational institutions. Incidentally, several priests were present at the meeting in plain clothes.
Historian Prajal Sakhardande expressed grave concern over the fate of historical sites and emphasised why it was important to conserve these heritage structures that were of supreme importance to Goa’s identity. He said that the data on these heritage changes and changes that needed to be made accordingly had been given to the government in writing, but the same could not be seen in the RP. He said that this was another reason for the RP to be scrapped.
It is to be noted that one of the recurring topics of discussion was how panchayats had submitted changes for the RP through the village committees formed years ago and the same had not been incorporated in the RP, which cast doubts over the government’s sincerity in ensuring that their recommendations were included in the plan.
No one could have better elucidated this trust deficit better than Freddy Fernandes, who referred to the recent Defence Expo controversy. Freddy, who is leading the agitation against the RP from Khola village, spoke about how the government constantly went back on its assurances regarding the use of the industrial estate at Quitol and how the government had later contradicted its own statements in the Assembly by revealing its plan to make it the permanent DefExpo venue.
At the end of the meeting, the speakers and audience vowed to continue their fight against the government until the RP was scrapped.
