Team Herald
PANJIM: The Congress on Tuesday alleged that the Outline Development Plans (ODPs) are being used by BJP as tools to generate funds for the 2017 Assembly elections. The party is contemplating approaching the Court for blatant violations of the law.
“ODPs are nothing but a vehicle of corruption and destruction. It is a systematic planning to concretize Goa and generate funds for the 2017 elections by BJP,” Congress President Luizinho Faleiro said in the presence of Margao MLA Digambar Kamat.
Faleiro said that post demonetisation, the ATMs in Goa are closed as there is a drought of cash. “In order to compensate the drought, government is in haste to finalize the ODPs,” he said.
“The ODPs are drafted in complete violation of Town and Country Planning Act. We will approach Court against these violations,” Kamat said.
Kamat, along with Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai, Ponda MLA Lavoo Mamledar, Margao and Ponda municipal councils are opposing the South Goa Planning and Development Authority (SGPDA) move to finalise the ODPs without taking local bodies into confidence.
The former Chief Minister said section 39 of the TCP Act, gives power to the government to direct the planning and development authority to prepare the ODP after consultation with local authorities. “However, in Margao and Panjim, the PDAs have violated this condition,” he said. He questioned the hurry in notifying the ODPs.
Meanwhile, the Pradesh Congress Manifesto Committee held a meeting Tuesday morning, wherein they decided to draft a ‘Goa Centric, People Centric’ election manifesto. “We don’t want to have a manifesto with Gujarat or Delhi model. We want Goa model,” Faleiro said.
He said the party manifesto will make promises that would be possible to fulfill or implement.
“We don’t want to make U-turns or false promises,” he stated. The manifesto will focus on issues like unemployment, health, price rise, education, etc.
