PORVORIM: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant gave an assurance that no new permissions based on the erroneous outline development plans (ODP) will be granted when it comes to planning the areas of Panjim, Mapusa and Vasco, henceforth.
He added that the 2016-draft ODPs will be considered as the base of the plan and that the ODPs of the three planning areas will be revised and redrafted following due procedure. “Whatever permission has been granted based on the existing ODPs, we cannot retrieve them. But, from tomorrow onwards, no new permissions will be granted till the new plan is drafted, finalised and notified,” he assured.
The assurance came after Leader of Opposition Digamber Kamat pointed out that the ODPs drafted for Panjim, Mapusa and Vasco, had been done without following the procedures and hence have been challenged in the High Court.
Recalling the assurance given by then TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai on the floor of the House, Kamat demanded that these faulty ODPs be scrapped. “Though, the government has already issued notification for reviving and redrafting of these ODPs, the existing plans have not been scrapped. I would request the Chief Minister to scrap it or to stop granting new permissions based on these erroneous plans,” he demanded.
Kamat said the ODPs had been prepared without following the required procedures as prescribed under the TCP Act. “Then Minister had agreed to the same,” he said.
He claimed that the plans, which have currently been challenged, will definitely be declared as null and void, as it did not have any consultation with the local authorities. Kamat requested the govt to take local municipal bodies into confidence while drafting the new plan.
