Margao ODP finally gets approval

MARGAO, JULY 1
At long last, the Outline Development Plan (ODP) for Margao city has been finally finalised on Wednesday.
If Chief Minister, Digambar Kamat is to be believed, the Margao ODP will come into effect immediately and will remain in force till 2016.
The Town and Country Planning Board headed by Chief Minister Digambar Kamat gave its stamp of approval for the ODP prepared by the South Goa Planning and Development Authority (SGPDA).
The Chief Minister told Herald that the TCP Board finalised the ODP after receiving a report from the sub-committee appointed to go into the complaints lodged by the citizens over a host of discrepancies. The TCP Board after going through the report of the sub committee approved the ODP on Wednesday, Kamat added.
Replying to a question, the Chief Minister said though the ODP was to take care of the planning requirements till 2011, the TCP Board has revised the decision and the plan will now remain in force till 2016.
The Margao ODP had turned controversial after city-based NGO Citizens Welfare Front and professionals took to the streets of Margao over the host of discrepancies noticed in the plan.
In fact, taking cognisance of the agitation launched by the city-based NGO, the TCP Board headed the Chief Minister last year riverted back the ODP back to the SGPDA to rectify the anomalies and prepare the plan afresh.
Amongst the anomalies noticed in the plan, includes the failure by the planning body to prepare the mandatory land use map and land use register before drafting the ODP.
 The Chief Minister said the TCP Board would now forward the ODP to the government for final approval before the same is notified in the gazette.
Meanwhile, with the TCP Board finally finalising the ODP for the Commercial Capital, the SGPDA is now gearing up to prepare a Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) for Margao. The Town and Country Planning department has issued directions to the PDA to set in motion the process of preparing the CDP and complete the exercise within the next three months.