PANJIM: Town and Country Planning (TCP) Minister Vishwajit Rane on Friday assured of withdrawing the notification including the three villages of Porvorim Constituency into the North Goa Planning and Development Authority (NGPDA).
Rane however informed that the Goa Legislative Assembly Complex, High Court of Bombay at Goa and the Secretariat, Porvorim will remain in planning and will not be removed from the Penha de Franca Village Panchayat.
He has also assured of addressing the concerns of the villagers within the next eight days.
There was fear and anxiety in the minds of villagers of Penha de Franca, Socorro and one more village in Porvorim following a notification by the TCP including these villages into the NGPDA planning area.
The process was done after a Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping survey reportedly by staff of the Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL). Fearing that the villages may be included into the jurisdiction of the Corporation of The City of Panaji (CCP), these village panchayats had submitted representations to the TCP and also called on local MLA and Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte requesting him to intervene into the matter.
Accordingly Sarpanchas, panchas and Zilla Panchayat (ZP) members from the affected villages along with Khaunte met the TCP Minister at his Dona Paula residence and apprised him of the matter.
After the meeting, Khaunte said, “Village panchayats and villagers have categorically objected to the notification and had gram sabhas opposing the TCP notification. Surprisingly, this notification has been issued without notifying the panchayats which are the local-self governments. Villages have no objection to the inclusion of High Court, Secretariat and Assembly complex into planning areas as it may require some planning in future.”
Rane said, “We will withdraw the notification in the manner in which villages and the local panchayats included. While drawing plans there are some deficiencies that remain. But I assure them that there will be no ambiguity.”
“It is a fact that planning is required for our towns and cities that are growing. But in case of Porvorim, we have spoken to MLA Rohan Khaunte and village panchayats and we will plan according to their wishes and are not in a hurry,” he added.
