TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government’s promised Regional Plan is still in limbo, even after an year and half of the new government being in office. Along with it, the promised consultations with stakeholders have only remained a pipe dream.
Regional plans are so incendiary that the previous two plans have been fiercely contested and have claimed one scalp — that of then minister Atanasio Babush Monserrate. Though the Regional Plan is merely a blueprint for development, it had serious political ramifications, resulting in the rout of the Congress party in the assembly elections.
The government in a June 4 notification, made the RP 2021 a reference plan with development and construction to be allowed subject to land use conforming to both – RP 2001 as well as RP 2021. It held the notified plan in abeyance and promised to effect corrections as demanded by the people. But interestingly, at the same time the government passed a notification by which development was being allowed including extra FAR for four and five star hotels.
Thus far, there have been promises of participatory formulation but till date shareholders or panchayat bodies have not been taken into confidence, despite assurances of transparency.
The present Regional Plan (RP 2021) after years of work was finally approved and notified. But the present government has ‘held (it) in abeyance’, allowing development, under certain conditions. The BJP, while in opposition in the run up to the elections, had promised that the RP 2021 would be scrapped; since this evoked wrath of large sections of the society. It had also promised that it would be revamped with six months of it coming to power. When the BJP came to power, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had said that the RP 2021 would be denotified and promised in the assembly on July 19, 2012 that from August 15-September 15, 2012 the plan would be kept open for general suggestions.
He had then asked all not “to panic” as in six months a full and final plan would be ready.
Then in June, Parrikar promised that the government would re-open the plan for deliberations in July and that panchayats and local self-governing bodies would be given an opportunity to decide on the development model for their villages, but to a limited extent. The government would fine tune the plan in a bid to impose restrictions on sale of land by its conversion of agricultural land to settlement, it was said.
A couple of days back Parrikar speaking to media likened the current RP to a genie in a bottle, arguing that till all arrangements are in place RP will not be made open for public scrutiny. “Unless and until I am confident that all points are put in place it will not be made open,” he said adding that they were working on some guidelines. Ironically, the chief minister who is also the town and country planning minister told the media that there were a few who were waiting for this RP to convert their land.
In December last, which was the initial deadline, Parrikar had attributed the delay to his administration’s preoccupation with the mining issue.
It may be recalled that a member of the task force that made the draft Plan, Edgar Ribeiro, had resigned from the task force, and pointed out that one third of Goa was covered by the outline development plans (ODPs) and this was out of the ambit of the Regional Plan. (Letter to Chief Minister on November 6, 2012). Now even as we move into the final three months of 2013, there is no sign of the new Regional Plan even as Lok Sabha elections are on the horizon.
