the goan I network
PANAJI
The Town and Country Planning Board on Friday gave its clearance to the Margao and Ponda Outline Development Plans (ODPs) which the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Minister Vijai Sardesai claimed are “path-breaking” as they spell out a long-term vision to build Goan ‘cities of the future’ and simultaneously create a neo-Goan indentity.
Sardesai said the next logical step after the ODPs will now be notified is to prepare a City Development Plan based on the contours outlined in the ODPs.
He said, the agrarian roots of Goa will not be forgotten and an agriculture hub will be part of the city plans which will be prepared by sourcing urban planning talent from across the world.
Meanwhile, Sardesai criticised former chief ministers Digambar Kamat and Ravi Naik for alleging that they had not attended the SGPDA meeting on Thursday as they were not members of the authority.
He claimed that the two senior MLAs had no reason to complain because “all their suggestions” pertaining to the cities had been fully accommodated in the ODPs.
“The Congress is opposing only because it did not want the ODPs to be finalised ahead of the impending Code of Conduct expected to come into force for the Lok Sabha elections. They are expecting a political change and were hoping that they themselves will undertake the exercise while in power,” Sardesai said.
He said, he on the other hand cannot wait for things to happen.
“These ODPs were pending for over two years. A consultative process was followed for over six months and the local bodies taken into confidence. We had to get it done because the Code will come and we have to get moving,” he added.
Vijay ridicules charge that ‘bouncers’ were used by SGPDA
PANAJI: Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai on Friday denied that the South Goa Planning and Development Authority which his Goa Forward Party controls used ‘bouncers’ for security at its meeting held on Thursday to approve the Outline Development Plans of Margao and Ponda.”Ours is a young party. It has a lot of young and healthy youngsters who work out. They are not ‘bouncers’,” Sardesai told the media in response to a series of questions on the alleged hiring of ‘bouncers’ instead of using the police.
On persistent questioning, Sardesai said, he himself would look like a ‘bouncer’ if he rolled up his sleeves and flexed muscles.
“If you have jaundice, you will see the world with a yellow tint. Now if you see a young, healthy Goan, you think he is a bouncer, it’s your problem,” Sardesai said, adding that GFP has many youngsters who ‘work out’ regularly.
Photos of uniformed men who seemed to be guarding the SGPDA office during Thursday’s meeting had gone viral on social media platforms eliciting widespread criticism and a censure from Opposition Congress party.
In response to another question, Sardesai said there was no question of intimidating any section of the citizenry as the ODPs of the two cities had accommodated everyone’s demands.
He nonetheless took potshots at NGO’s opposing public projects saying Goa was suffering from constant opposition and some individuals have made it their profession to object to anything and everything.
