PANJIM: The House Committee route has been taken many times before by the Congress government that preceded this one – more than 720 times. And now this government seems to be heading the same way.
On Monday, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had announced the constitution of a eight-member House Committee by September 15 to discuss and finalise the Regional Plan and amendments and functioning of Town and Country Planning Department and Act.
“I think this is a scam. There are a lot of illegalities happening and the plan needs to go back to the villages for corrections,” says architect Dean D’Cruz, calling this step taken by the chief minister a gambit to “buy time.” D’Cruz was a member of the task Force on the Regional Plan 2021.
According to Dean the TCP Act, which is a very old one too has to be modified to allow for public participation. Activists say that officials of the Town and Country Planning Department have become experts in using the plan the way they want it.
The chief minister has rubbished allegations about the present status of the Regional Plan saying that “Illegal constructions have nothing to do with the Regional Plan, whether there is a plan or not, the people involved in it would do it.”
But Dean is emphatic that the plan needs to go the village level. “It needs to go back to the villages and then they have to decide,” he says.
But other sections of the GBA are not too keen on it going back to the villages saying that this would take time.
“If it goes back to the villages the plan will take another five years to be finalized. It has to be done either at the district level or at the State level,” says Miguel Braganza, secretary GBA and record keeper to the NGO.
However, Dean does not agree with this saying that a deadline can be put for the plans to come back from the villages.
(He (Parrikar) has already kept it for over two years. Give it a time of say 6 months,” he says adding that you can’t use two plans.
Others also want RP-2021 wrapped up and a new plan made.
However, Dean says that RP-2021 should remain. “We have eco-sensitive zones and the FAR restrictions in villages in this plan. It has its good points and modifications can be made,” he said.
Yesterday, Leader of Opposition Pratapsing Rane pointed out that paddy fields and the low lying areas are being converted into settlement zones with the blessing of panchayats and local government bodies.
The Leader of Opposition had alleged that ‘every person wants the plan to be drafted as per their wishes. This is delaying the plan,” while pointing out that eminent persons had drafted the plan that was piloted through by the CM’s blue eyed boy Sanjit Rodrigues himself.
