MARGAO
The South Goa Planning and Development Authority (SGPDA) has categorically ruled out extension of time for filing of objections to the Margao Outline Development Plan, even as curtains come down on the process on Tuesday.
SGPDA’s stand assumes significance given that it has so far received less than 300 objections for the draft ODP which was kept for scrutiny since the last two months.
That the PDA has no plan to further extend the time frame to facilitate people to file their objections became evident as a meeting scheduled later this week is expected to constitute a sub-committee for scrutinising the objections and place them before the authority for approval.
“Till Friday last, the PDA had received around 262 objections to the draft ODP. Today, I am told by the office that another 30 objections were lodged. The office is compiling the number of objections to the plan,” informed SGPDA Member Secretary Ashok Kumar. He told The Goan that there’s no plan to extend the time limit for filing objections to the draft ODP which ends on Tuesday. Kumar’s stands assumes significance and comes against the backdrop that the number of objections filed to the draft ODP two years ago stood at around 450.
“The PDA had given enough time for the citizens to lodge their objections to the plan as per the rules in force. There’s no question of extending the time limit,” he said, while ruling out any possibility of extending the time frame.
Ashok Kumar informed that the PDA at its meeting scheduled later this week is expected to constitute a sub-committee to go into the objections. “It’s only after the objections are scrutinized by the sub-committee, these will be finally placed before the Authority for a final call,” he added.
The SGPDA Member Secretary pointed out that this is the first time that the PDA has set in motion the process of finalizing the ODP for Margao and Ponda after preparing the land-use map and register.
Moreover, he pointed out that the PDA had taken inputs from local civic bodies before objections were invited by the authority for the draft ODP.
