PANJIM: Cautioning the government that piecemeal and hasty decisions to amend Town and Country Planning (TCP) Act without people’s participation will drive Goa into despair and chaos, the Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA) has hoped that TCP Minister Vishwajit Rane will use local wisdom and resources instead of multiple foreign outfits on this issue.
In response to announcements and reforms proposed by the TCP Department with regard to urban and village planning, the GBA in its meeting deliberated on planning issues that had plagued Goa since the ‘fraudulent’ Regional Plan 2011 of 2005.
The meeting discussed critical issues with lasting impact such as Outline Development Plans (ODPs),
Section 16B of the TCP Act, zoning plans/village development plans for areas outside ODPs, FAR increases as ad-hoc proposals by the TCP as published in the newspapers, the Goa Land Development and Building Control Regulations 2010 (Unified Building Regulations) and overhaul of the TCP Act in consonance with the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments.
GBA convenor Sabina Martins said the inputs have been inwarded to the TCP Minister along with relevant court orders and plans, with a request for a meeting and presentation.
She expressed shock over the presence of developers and builders in the core advisory team to revamp the TCP Act.
Martins said, “If they represent the rest of civil society of Goa then the only focus will be on built-up structures and FAR. Such a focus with the exclusion of all else is known to lead to wealth concentration, inequalities, and societal/environmental degradation.”
The five urgent changes long overdue.
These also include synchronising it with the 73rd and the 74th amendments to the Constitution (participation of the citizenry within a proper time-frame and coordinating with District Planning Committees)
The others are inclusion of stakeholders that must necessarily include socio-economic inputs across employment verticals such as agriculture, fisheries, tourism etc; inclusion and respect for Goa specific communities and community commons such as comunidades; compulsory protection of the environment as a stakeholder through its services of climate change mitigation and immediate repeal of the contentious amendment 16B of TCP Act.
