MARGAO
The Congress party on Saturday has reaffirmed its stand in protecting the interests of the farmers and their agricultural land which was acquired on the southern side of Margao Railway Station, during the tenure of Digambar Kamat who was the Urban Development Minister during his earlier term with the BJP.
Demanding transparency, Congress party has warned GSUDA and the government to refrain from finalisation of the master plan without public participation, threatening to take on to the streets if need be.
Addressing the media at the South District Congress office, Savio Coutinho displayed newspaper cuttings of 16th December 2019, wherein Margao MLA Digambar Kamat had assured the farmers to protect their interests. “Now, through the master plan, Kamat intends to do just the opposite, Coutinho charged.
He added: “We are of the strong conviction that the sole aim of the Master Plan is to change zones in the ODP, and to sell out land acquired from Goans to outside parties in the form of private partnership projects.”
He charged the much spoken of “economic nodes” in the Master Plan is nothing but a crooked route to change land to commercial zones. “Instead of showing Madgaonkars new footpaths and walkways on paper, the Margao MLA should instead clear the existing footpaths and streets from the encroachments,” he demanded.
South Goa District President Savio D’Silva stated that though the Master Plan was for the Margao city, the ill-effects of the wrongs are faced by all the villages along the river Sal. “The raw sewage and the garbage from Margao, that flows into the river Sal has destroyed even the fishing activity all along the river, and hence it is not only the concern of Margao people to know the details of the Master Plan, but entire Salcete is anxious to know what more mess they are waiting for,” he said.
GPCC general secretary Moreno Rebello said that all the neighbouring villages suffer on account of the ill-planning and mismanagement of affairs in Margao, saying that Sonsodo continues to be the major problem for the people of Curtorim.
Reacting to Margao MLA’s claim that the Master Plan presentation was only for engineers and architects, Arch Carlos Gracias questioned, “I am also an architect, then why was I stopped from attending the presentation.”
Citizen Mathin Karol said that since the Master Plan was for the public, it was mandatory on the part of the authorities to seek inputs and suggestions from the public.
