the goan I network
PANAJI
Nothing has divided opinion in Goa like the Goa Regional Plan 2021 and with the monsoon session of the Goa Legislative Assembly set to enter its third and final week, the government will face its most serious challenge yet as it seeks to push through the Town and Country Planning Amendment Bill.
At the center of the debate would be Section 41(a) which pertains to Land acquisition, 41(b) related to transfer of land by way of accommodation and reservation and 41(c) which seek to preserve land by withdrawal and transfer of developmental right.
Besides the TDR policy, is the move of the government to allow changes to the regional plan while it is in force in order to bring ‘justice’ to those landowners whose land was marked as settlement in the Regional Plan 2001, but not marked as settlement in the Regional Plan 2021.
In effect, for a building project to get permission the ‘necessary condition’ has gone from the land having to be marked as settlement in both the regional plans (2001 and 2021) to now needing to be marked as settlement in either one of the regional
plans.
Town and Country Planning Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai is on record to say that the fate of the Regional Plan would be placed before the legislative Assembly and whatever decision would be taken by the House would be final.
The decision to bring more areas under settlement zones was done ostensibly to provide ‘justice’ to those whose lands lost the settlement status.
However, the decision would bring even more land under settlement in Goa.
One of the criticisms of the regional plan was that it had too much area under settlement done to please certain vested interests who wanted to develop their otherwise undevelopable lands.
At a press conference earlier this month, the Town and Country Planning Minister, while responding to a question from journalists, defended the decision saying that, besides bringing justice to those persons who lost out, the decision would not be to the detriment of Goa as barely a small fraction of the lands currently marked as settlement in the regional plan were actually developed or operationalised as settlement for various reasons.
The Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Girish Chodankar has slammed moves of bringing about changes in zones through the back door for vested interests.
“Section 16B of TCP Act which is proposed, will erode the basic sanctity of having a regional plan as the proposals to have case to case basis change of zone will flood the TCP department. The present intent of the government is not to create change of zone ‘case to case’ but it is ‘suitcase to suitcase’ basis’,” Chodankar said.
He also claimed that the present Advocate General in his opinion in December 2017-January 2018 has said no case to case basis of conversion of land is permissible which was stopped in year 2005.
“The entire exercise is to operationalise 2021 Regional plan even without hearing the 8000-odd objections which are pending. There is no procedure laid down as to what will be the scheme of the things to operationalise the entire scheme of
proposed amendments,” he added.
Chodankar alleges that the TDR concept will put huge pressure on the demands of water and electricity and will jeorpadise the interest of locals by influx of foreign
players.
Cautioning on the dangers of TDR, Chodankar stated that the introduction of the policy will wash away the basic intent of the Regional Plan and will indirectly dilute the entire Town and Country Act which prohibits change of zone of plan once the Regional Plan is finalized.
The TDR policy is nowhere for the benefit of the common Goan, he stated.
The Regional Plan 2021 faced the wrath of the people under the banner of Goencho Avaaz who alleged that large-scale conversion of land was enacted at the behest of politicians who themselves were beneficiaries of the conversions.
Sardesai had then promised to place the issue before the House. A TCP committee formed to look into the allegations at the meeting received no representations from those who made them at the meeting or others.
