the goan I network
MARGAO
A resident of Loutolim and member of the Village Level Committee (VLC), Franky Monteiro on Tuesday said that the declaration by the TCP Minister that the allegations made by Goencho Avaaz shall be verified by a five-member committee and that appropriate action shall be taken is a farce exercise.
“One wonders how the Minister intends to act once the allegations are verified. Is the Minister or the Chief Town Planner empowered to direct erasions or changes of the zones on the RP 2021 notified plan. There is no such provision in the TCP Act,” he said.
Monteiro said it also needs to be noted that Goencho Avaaz has only highlighted the change in zones made in RP 2021 by some politicians. “There are 16,000 objections to the RP 2021 by individuals made to the Chief Town Planner in an exercise which was opened by then government. These objections are received lawfully and are required to be looked into. During the said exercise majority of the gram sabhas of panchayats in Goa had resolved to scrap the RP 2021 and such resolutions had been forwarded to the Chief Town Planner. The exercise for unknown reasons was shelved and the RP 2021 was kept in abeyance since June 2012 by the Parrikar government. The TCP Minister with ulterior motives suddenly put it back in operation bypassing all objections voiced to the plan,” he added.
There were instances where two plans were received by the CTP from village panchayats during formulation of RP 2021. For example, he said that Loutolim village panchayat forwarded a draft RP which was prepared by the VLC as per stipulated guidelines and which was also approved by gram sabha. “Within two months, another draft RP of Loutolim village surfaced at the Chief Town Planner’s office with a covering letter from the panchayat. Panchayat records revealed that no such letter or plan was officially forwarded to the CTP office. An FIR was filed by villagers and a case was filed by the police in court against then sarpanch wherein the then sarpanch denied signing any forwarding letter or submitting any plan to the CTP office. However, the irony of the fact is that the fraudulent plan received by the CTP office was considered by the SLC (State Level Committee) and the notified RP 2021 is as proposed in the fraudulent draft plan. The draft RP 2021 prepared by the VLC of Loutolim and approved by gram sabha was shunted and not at all considered by SLC. Several complaints to the CTP in this respect have gone on deaf ears. After notification of the RP 2021, Loutolim gram sabha has resolved to scrap the RP 2021 for Loutolim village for above said reasons. The resolution was also officially submitted to the CTP,” he said, while demanding to know how the TCP Minister and/or the CTP intend to rectify the entire plan for Loutolim village in the RP 2021?.
He said there are large tracts of land marked as eco-tourism zones, marinas, helipads, etc. In the RP 2021 without the same being recommended by Task Force or by the concerned villages. “The proposed 25mts, 15 mts roads, etc shown in the plan in the interiors of villages are without the knowledge and approval of the villagers. There are numerous flaws and defects in the RP 2021 and hence is required to be scrapped in totality. Piece meal rectifications in RP 2021 is neither possible nor acceptable to Goans,” he said, adding that a fresh 2031 plan can be formulated with active participation of villagers also including the ODP areas in the RP.
