Team Herald
PANJIM: Goemkar against PDA (GAP) on Sunday has demanded that the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Minister Vijai Sardesai de-notify the Planning Development Authority (PDA) at the TCP meeting scheduled for May 16 failing which it has threatened to intensify its protest.
GAP, which had began its five-day chain hunger strike demanding de-notification of PDA and scrapping of the Regional Plan 2021 from May 13, ended the same on Sunday evening.
Addressing the media, GAP secretary Rama Kankonkar said, “Until and unless all the PDAs are de-notified, our movement will keep going strong. On May 16, there is a board meeting of Town and Country Planning Department, we respect it. If the demands are not fulfilled then we will intensify the protest and future course of action will be decided once the results from the meeting are out.”
He said, “We have come to know that all the other villages will be deleted from the PDA but the Kadamba Plateau would be kept, we do not want such a thing, our demand is to delete all villages. The process followed was completely unconstitutional.”
He said, “Our demand is delete all villages from the “unconstitutional” PDAs and to amend the TCP Act so as to incorporate the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments in the Act.”
GAP accused the TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai of using diversion techniques to neutralise the issue and claimed that the people have been betrayed through false promises.
“Also the Regional Plan has been prepared without any data, so we feel that the plan should be sent to the villagers and then only taken into consideration. We will wait till May 16,” he said.
GAP had earlier threatened a morcha to Sardesai’s residence in Fatorda to de-notify villages included in the PDA.
Meanwhile, the TCP Board May 16 meeting will discuss on the crucial PDA issue, wherein it is likely to decide on withdrawing all villages from the PDA.
