the goan I network
MARGAO
The High Court has issued notices to the South Goa Planning and Development Authority (SGPDA) and other concerned authorities on a petition filed by United Goans Foundation (UGF) challenging the validity of the land use plan and Outline Development Plan (ODP) for Margao.
While the notices are returnable on the next date of hearing on December 16, questions are being raised in the SGPDA over the fate of the dozens of development permissions pending in the planning body. It is not out of place to mention here that at its last meeting held on Wednesday, the SGPDA had decided to keep on hold all the proposals for development permission in view of the writ petition filed in the High Court.
The United Goans Foundation has raised a host of contention while challenging the Margao ODP, claiming that the PDA had wrongly invited suggestion, thus allegedly allowing massive zone changes in the final plan without the knowledge of the public, thereby denying natural justice to the people.
Moreover, it was contended that the ODP was not prepared based on the land use plan. Instead it was prepared based on the previous ODP, which is not in conformity of the act and rules.
While claiming there was no participation of the public while preparing the draft, the Foundation contended that any sort of involvement of the Municipality was just tokenism.
Contending that massive zone conversion was done on the pretext of cartographic errors even after the plan was notified, the Foundation submitted that the city needed a comprehensive development plan much before the ODP.
President of United Goans Foundation, Dr Ashish Kamat pointed out that the Foundation had consistently objected to the way both the land use plan and the ODP were prepared. “During the hearings of the land use plan, we had mentioned through the PDA that they have to do a ground study of the entire city and fill the form as prescribed in the TCP rules. This data would have been a valuable source of information for all future policy making of the city. Instead, the PDA went ahead and created a structure use plan. Similarly in haste, they prepared the outline development plan sitting overnight colouring different zones which has added more than eight lakh square meters of buildup area to the already congested city,” Kamat added.
He said the Foundation’s main contention is that the outline development plan has to be a broad classification of zones and not an exercise to colour plots of land on case to case basis.
“In 2016, we had challenged then draft ODP which was subsequently withdrawn and therefore the case had to be closed. This time we will ensure that even if the ODP is withdrawn, the case will go on as long as they do not implement the provisions of the TCP Act and rules both in word and spirit,” he said.
Kamat also disclosed plans to file a vigilance case against all those involved in drafting these maps.
