MARGAO
In the Master plan for Margao 2042 presented to the citizens on January 17, 2024, a host of activities, including an agri-tech industry, commercial and residential zone had found a mention in the plan.
That’s not all. In Zone 3, falling in South Margao, the Master Plan had proposed a new economic node, connected to the city through a proposed transit loop. The plan had further proposed the creation of an innovation hub in the vicinity, with facilities for retail, art and culture, entertainment, incubation, innovation labs, hospitality, and multipurpose use.
The Plan spoke nothing about the GSUDA-acquired admeasuring 28,000 square metres, but the proposal was enough to raise fears and concerns amongst the farmers and citizens waging a battle to retain the fields as a green zone.
With Zone three proposed in Margao’s South zone now finds no mention in the Master plan, questions are raised whether the proposal is shelved or will be brought back in the plan at a later stage.
The representative of the Mumbai-based consultant Studio Pod only stated that the South Zone is no longer part of the master plan. Questions, however, remain unanswered “ on what grounds did the consultant drop the south Zone from the Master plan and at whose behest, whether it was done at the instructions of GSUDA or the powers that be.
Secondly, given that the Master plan for Margao is not a statutory exercise, as admitted by the consultant himself, will Margao’s South zone make a comeback at a later stage.
