Team Herald
PANJIM: Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA) reiterated on Saturday that they are for rectification of the Regional Plan 2021 and not for its scrapping, denotification or withdrawal.
GBA demanded that immediate guidelines be formulated to avoid confusion and that if the plan is withdrawn, the RP2001 prepared 30 years ago will be in force.
“As per the Town & Country Planning Act, Section 17C states clearly that the previous plan will be in force if present plan is withdrawn. The old plan has no clarity or protection of eco-zones in its policy. The old plan does not have village level detail plans. The lack of clarity in the RP2001 regarding application of eco-laws has lead to misinterpretation and many constructions being stayed by court cases,” GBA said in a statement signed by convenor Sabina Martins and secretary Reboni Saha.
GBA said that its stand was to retain what is good such as marked eco-zones and rectify what is objectionable in the plan. “We demand that the government form a committee with people from all relevant fields and prepare guidelines for processing changes to the Regional Plan 2021,” the statement added.
It said that the RP was notified by the previous government, however was used selectively based on an order dated June 4, 2012 by the present government, that kept legislating to bypass the Regional Plan for large projects.
Giving instances, GBA said that the government is opening the Outline Development Plans to favour a few and increasing built up area (FAR) for select institutions, and has introduced the overriding Investment Promotion Board Act which flouts Constitutional rights and the Regional Plan, and allows construction anywhere for ‘investment’ and that guidelines for eco-tourism projects, which violated eco-sensitive zones, have been passed under an urgent ‘ordinance’ instead of waiting for the Assembly session.
GBA said, “We are yet to have a TCP Act amended for people’s participation, and accurate data collected for a new plan. We have no guarantee what future governments will do, as every government promises yet does not deliver, as the last nine years show.”
