GBA not in favour of scrapping RP-21
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PANAJI
In response to the conflicting statements made by the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, the Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA) have said there was no need to scrap the plan at all but instead asked for people’s participation, eco protection and sustainability to be incorporated.
In a statement issued by the GBA, they have said that they stand for “rectification of the plan based on guidelines that needed to be formulated to avoid confusion. GBA is against scrapping, de notification or withdrawal of the Regional Plan.”
According to them, if the RP 2021 is to be denotified or scrapped or withdrawn, the RP 2001 that was prepared 30 years ago would be in force as per Section 17C of the Town and Country Planning Act.
“The old plan has no clarity of protection of eco zones in its policy. The old plan does not have village level detail plans. The lack of clarity in the RP 2001 regarding application of eco laws has led to misinterpretation and many constructions being stayed by court cases,” said convenor of the group Sabina Martins.
She also expressed shock at the government that the three year exercise that the people had undertaken was held in abeyance and instead was working towards bypassing the regional plan for large projects.
The GBA pointed to several government decisions including the continuous opening of the Outline Development Plan (ODP) to favour a few, increasing FAR for select institutions, introducing the Investment Promotion Board Act that bypasses the RP itself and the guidelines for eco tourism projects that have been passed under urgent ordinances.
“We have no guarantee what future governments will do as every government promises yet does not deliver, as the last nine years have shown,” they said.
The GBA demand that only what is good such as areas marked as eco zones should be retained and rectify what is objectionable. “We demand that the government form a committee with people from the relevant fields and prepare guidelines for processing changes to the RP 2021. A new plan can only come with an amended TCP act for people’s participation and accurate ground data. Till then, the rectified plan should remain in force,” said Martins.
