PANAJI
Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai set a cat among the pigeons saying that he doubted the capacity of the Town and Country Planning Department to be able to bring to fruition the Regional Plan 2021 as promised by the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar in his budget speech.
Addressing a press conference, Sardesai said that after a more than three hour debriefing session he held with officials of the Town and Country Planning Department, he has called for another meeting on April 19 along with the Chief Minister after which a final decision will be taken.
“My simple question was whether the department has the capacity to complete in six to seven months what has been 16 years in the making,” Sardesai said adding that he had doubts over whether it was realistic and possible.
Sardesai suggested that the government should instead plan for the future and not just 2021 which was barely a few years away.
“I’ve been elected till 2022. Does this mean that in the final year I have to be planning over my own plans,” Sardesai asked without directly saying that the plan that does come out would indeed need to be of a later year if not RP 2031.
He reiterated however, that a final decision on the way forward will be taken after April 19, and after he receives replies to the specific queries he has sought from the department.
Sardesai hit out at the piecemeal development that he said was taking place in the absence of a formalised plan across the state saying that it resulted in a loss of Goan identity and while it is not possible to please everybody, it was important that there be a plan in place.
“Only acting on objections and objections to objection is not the way to plan, this piecemeal planning is benefiting no one. There are more than ₹11,000 crore worth of news roads works in the State currently underway, are we planning for this,” he asked.
He said that Goa needs to have a character and uniqueness seen through its architecture which needed to be done through an incentive to builders and hoteliers to maintain uniformity in character and colour across the state.
