Ever since the Regional Plan 2021 was kept open for objections and suggestions there have been calls from some villages to scrap the document and go in for a fresh one.
The reasons for this demand are not always listed and on Thursday Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza, who handles the town and country planning portfolio, gave those who want the plan scrapped a fitting reply. Speaking on the sidelines of the Goa Aqua Fish Festival at Navelim, D’Souza cautioned against scrapping the plan. The process for formulating another plan would take around two to three years and it would make no sense to plan for 2021 which is hardly five years away, he said. Instead it would make more sense to plan
for 2031 or 2041. The Deputy CM also explained that the present
plan was formulated after going through a bottom-top process
and it would be better if it goes through with rectifications.
This is sane advise from the Deputy Chief Minister. Regional
Plan 2021, for all its defects, represents a body of work unparalleled
in the social and development history in free India. The plan
was the first to be formulated through
a top-bottom-top process involving
people at the village level. Of the 189
panchayats around 176 set their plans
while eight of the nine municipalities
participated in the process. Apart
from this gargantuan effort, which
involved formulation of village-level
committees and a consultations process,
the state level committee also received
8,500 suggestions from individuals which were dealt with
in a systematic manner with a pre-set criteria.
There were a lot of pulls and pressures which eventually saw
the Goa Bachao Abhiyan disintegrate and the resignation of wellknown
town planner Edgar Ribeiro, but the presence of the late
Charles Correa and the indefatigable spirit he brought to the process
eventually saw the plan through. The former chief minister
Digambar Kamat deserves a pat on the back for not losing sight
of the goal. The plan might not be perfect, but it has been notified
and therefore is the last word on planning.
Part of the heartburn experienced even today stems from three
sources “ genuine errors, rejection of demands for plots to be converted
into settlement areas and the mistaken belief that the village
was supreme and could dictate to the State. It was the combination
of these three reasons that led to turmoil over the plan and
eventually, its re-opening. Those who ask for it to be scrapped
have either not grasped the enormity of their demand or have
vested interests. We hope it is the former.
No matter how one looks at it, Regional Plan 2021 is the first
document which contains micro-level land information, clearly
demarcates land that needs to be protected, attempts to diffuse
development to interiors and northern and southern-most talukas
which are seeing a migration towards the centre and coast,
envisions a diversion of traffic away from NH17 and creates village-
level plans for settlement and economic activity.
By any measure, it is a comprehensive document and it is a relief
to know that the Deputy Chief Minister understands its value
while acknowledging its limitations. No purpose will be served
by scrapping the regional plan and the only way forward is by accommodating
those suggestions which fall within the framework
created for protecting the state. The plan already has a set of criteria
for evaluating suggestions and this must be followed in order
to prevent it from being ripped apart by various interests.
