The Mayor of Panaji and 15 elected members of the Corporation
of the City of Panaji (CCP) have taken the outline
development plan for the city to court. They have
gone to court in their individual capacity because the
commissioner refused to file the case, which we think
is a good enough reason for his transfer. The reasoning is simple:
if the commissioner can call the shots what is the point
in having elected representatives? In this case, it appears, the
commissioner put the interests of the North Goa Planning and
Development Authority ahead of the CCP and the city. In the
future there must be a system where the post of commissioner
is filled by an incumbent who is acceptable to the CCP. The
practice of using the commissioner to control the CCP must be
stopped and power transferred to the corporation.
The crux of the petition filed before the High Court of Bombay
at Goa is that the CCP was not consulted at the time of preparation
of the ODP. Of the many new suggestions and ideas incorporated
into the ODP, the one
that stands out is increase of FAR to
300 for reconstruction of old buildings.
This is a major change in planning
because it means that Panaji,
which has run out of space, is going
to grow upwards. The petitioners
have charged that this measure
was hastily pushed through to gain
the support of voters for the Assembly
elections which were held on
February 4. This may or may not be true, but a question mark
hangs over whether the CCP was consulted or not.
The petition contains an exchange of letters between the
CCP and the NGPDA, with the former claiming that it was
not concluded and the latter countering it. The crucial issue
here is what should be the nature of consultation? Should the
CCP be treated as an individual for the purpose of submitting
objections or suggestions? Or should the ODP be sent to the
CCP for its final approval? These questions are now before the
high court.
It has been a tradition of successive State governments to
bulldoze panchayats and municipalities. The only change
came when former chief minister Digambar Kamat chose to
adopt the bottom-top system of planning and involved all
panchayats in the formulation of the regional plan. A similar
system should have been adopted for the purpose of preparing
ODPs with ward-level consultation. Unfortunately, under the
existing system, the planning and development authorities
have been placed above elected bodies, which is an anti-democratic
practice. One understands that planning of cities
ought to be taken up by experts, however, final approval must
lie with the people who are going to be impacted by changes
in the ODP. The petition filed by the Mayor and 15 corporators
therefore, asserts their right to govern the city.
