Task Force to submit draft RP 2021 to govt on Aug 31

NT NETWORK
Posted on 2008-08-21
PANAJI — The draft Regional Plan 2021 will be submitted to the government on August 31 and it is supposed to be made public on September 15, according to highly placed sources. It will thereafter be open for public suggestions till December 15 (for 90 days).
A few days back, senior town planner and member of the Task Force, Mr Edgar Rebeiro had told ‘The Navhind Times’ that the report was almost ready and only loose ends were to be tied up for which they were waiting for the vice chief of the Task Force and noted architect, Mr Charles Correia to finalise. Sources said that there had to be proper ‘mapping’ of all details and most departments had given their five-year plans to the Task Force to be integrated in the draft plan. The Goa Bachao Abhiyan was invited by the government to join the Task Force headed by the Chief Minister, Mr Digambar Kamat.
It may be recalled that the Task Force was formed after the RP 2011 was scrapped after massive public protests in which the GBA had been in the forefront. The original mandate of the Task Force was to give guidelines for preparing the Regional Plan 2021. But this mandate was later changed and the Task Force was asked to recommend a draft regional structural plan for Goa 2021 that would comprise of spatial and socio-economic policies and strategies.
The Task Force for the Regional Plan 2021 was constituted by the government vide a notification dated October 4, 2007, and published in the official gazette in the same month and the changed work was published in notification dated February 26. However, there have been protests from the constituents of the Task Force including the GBA on the decision of the government to pass an amendment to the Town and Country Planning Act, 1974, and they had demanded that the government immediately withdraw or amend the said bill as well as the ordinance it is to replace.
People who have been agitating against the previous regional plan said that this bill, the corresponding ordinance, the new notification and such other actions of the government make a mockery of the work entrusted to the Task Force. GBA insiders say that the government weakened the mandate of the Task Force with this bill.
The GBA had alleged that this amendment of the Act was tantamount to the government initiating a parallel process to bring in projects through the back door thus nullifying the very purpose of setting up the Task Force to prepare the RP for the state. The GBA had also written letters to the Chief Minister and all the MLAs to ask them to oppose this and the leader of opposition, Mr Manohar Parrikar and the Curtorim MLA, Mr Alex Reginald Lourenco had promised to bring it up during the present monsoon session of the assembly.