After the Smart City, the Class 1 Municipal area of Margao lost the race to have their city planned well for the residents as the date for submissions of suggestions ended on Tuesday. The MMC reportedly has not sent any correspondence to the South Goa Planning and Development Authority (SGPDA) regarding the desired changes in the Margao Outline Development Plan (ODP). The Chairman of SGPDA, Mauvin Godinho confirmed this to Herald on Tuesday. However, several people have expressed surprise over the notification of the TCP throwing the ODP open for objections and suggestions when Section 39 of the TCP Act doesn’t provide any scope for changing the existing draft.
The notification which was published on the news dailies mentioned that the ODP will be open for a month from 29th November and also stated that the Planning and Development Authority shall, after carrying out fresh surveys, prepare after consultation with the local authorities concerned, if any and submit to the Board and the Government, a Development Plan for any alterations or additions considered necessary to the Development Plan in operation. The message went out loud and clear but apparently, not loud and not clear enough for the MMC. When Herald cross checked with Godinho, whether the MMC has corresponded in this regard, he said, “We haven’t received any correspondence from them. Nothing so far.”
This either means that for the MMC, the ODP is either in perfect sync with the needs of the city or they are least bothered about the changes needed for posterity. “The MMC has totally ignored their prime duties of having a suitable and a future oriented ODP and it has now been heard that there are attempts being made to change zones of lands at personal discretions which is illegal as the section of the TCP act just doesn’t provide any change,” said activist Sriram Raiturkar. He also informed that a setback of 100 meters has not been shown in the ODP for the Sal River running through Margao which is currently in the news. The fallout has already begun to be seen with a huge estate already constructing bungalows on the river side.
