RTI activist Dominic Noronha speculated that the government may have kept the RP open during Christmas so that it could get away with changes while the people were busy preparing for the festival. He continued, “All strata of Goa demanded that the plan be sent back to the panchayats so that they can change objectionable parts of the draft, but it has not happened. We have already made a representation to the TCP to revert the zone changes made to the Dramapur hillock and low-lying fields near Sal River.”
Goa Panchayati Raj Forum convenor Santan Rodrigues was not amused with the government’s gesture of opening the RP.
He stated, “The whole purpose of the opening and asking for suggestions and objections is destroyed as the District Planning Committee, which is generally the apex planning body for villages and towns, is not in place or empowered. As a result, the planning of the state becomes a process from top level to down level. It has to be the other way round. Also, after all this hard work, planning only till 2021 is useless.”
