Goa Bachao warriors ask Goans to come out of their homes to protest leeway to change land use at will

Team Herald

MARGAO: Pledging to save Goa from destruction, the State’s environmental warriors on Monday demanded that the proposed amendments to Goa Building Regulations by the State government be scrapped as they claimed that they lack vision, are insensitive to the environment, conflict of planning objectives and even conflict within the building regulations.

Dr Claude Alvares of Goa Foundation spearheaded the people’s opposition to the amendments.

He said Goa Foundation and Goa Bachao Abhiyan had challenged the Section 16B amendment to Town and Country Planning Act, and now the government has brought in Section 17(2). 

“Section 17(2), which means that if a party claims and not the TCP corrections can be made. There are high possibilities that everything will be changed in the Regional Plan by stating that it is an error. In the past, we had challenged Section 16B and now will challenge Section 17(2) also,” he said.

He said that they will not allow the government to do such type of nonsense. 

The meeting pertaining to awareness of the proposed amendments was held at Margao by ‘Goyche Fuddle Pillge Khatir’ and ‘Goa Bachao Abhiyan’, environmentalists, social activists, and experts in the planning fields including Dr Claude Alvares, Dean Cruz, Sabina Martins, Tahir Noronha, Elsa Fernandes, Jack Mascarenhas, and others expressed their strong objections to the proposed amendments.

They claimed that these proposed amendments are nothing but nonsense, which will be a backdoor entry to the building lobby.  

They appealed to the general public to file the objections by May 26. Further, Dr Claude Alvares and others informed that they will challenge the proposed amendment and not allow the government to destroy the environment. 

“This is not planning but all nonsense. This is just being ‘hukumgiri’. The public of Goa needs to recognise that the TCP is completely contrary to the interest of Goa, to the survival of Goans, and to the environment and ecology of Goa. Either one will go; Goa or TCP. If we want Goa to remain, we need to remove TCP,” said Dr Alvares. 

He added that the only method is to go to local-level planning from the villages; starting from the ward level. People don’t want plans prepared by sitting in air-conditioned rooms. The government doesn’t want planning at the local level but wants all development plans in its hands.  

“Nobody will be the loser if ward-level committees at the village level prepared the plans,” said Alvares. 

Architect Dean D’Cruz said that all the paddy fields will be taken away if the proposed amendment is notified. 

“What will be left for Goa and Goans when everything is taken away, and hence we have to take on this movement at the highest level and the public needs to come out from their homes,” he appealed and requested the public to file objections. 

Veteran Goa Bachao Abhiyan activist Sabina Martins stated that these proposed amendments will destroy the fields as they will allow construction in the fields. 

She said, “There is no application of mind pertaining to the proposed amendment. Instead of improving the quality of life of Goans, it is going down. RP is supposed to be a participative process. Regional Plan is already made and hence why there is a need for amendments?” 

She alleged that these amendments are in the interest of the private parties and not made in the interest of the public. 

Tahir Noronha, a planner said the government has again brought what has been objected to before by the Goans. 

“What was protested has been brought in again. Farmhouses inside the paddy fields and all sort of crazy things which are very shocking,” he said. 

Jack Mascarenhas said the amendments proposed therefore appear to have no vision, are insensitive to the environment of Goa, are in conflict with planning objectives, and even conflict with the building regulations. 

“In view of this, the amendments need to be scrapped and rejected outright and instead a holistic study be engaged to a visionary approach to a risk directed land use planning in these times which need attention to climate change hazards,” he added.