the goan I network
PANAJI
Villagers of Candolim have demanded that the Outline Development Plan for their village be scrapped as it has been drafted haphazardly, they say, “by sitting in the NGPDA office” as well as through misleading the people that it was being done for their benefit, while in reality, several zone changes reveal that it has been done for the betterment of certain parties.
Addressing a press conference Sachin Kurtikar told reporters that they were firm in their demand that the Outline Development Plan needed to be scrapped and redrafted from scratch.
“We were earlier told that the coming of the ODP would see the legalisation of people’s constructions including the people who have extended their houses or garages or any other development in their plots. Which is why some people were in favour of it initially. But what we now see is that on one hand they are legalising say 50sqm of development but on the other hand, large tracts of no development zones have been converted and shown as orchards, and mangrove areas have been shown as fields,” Kurtikar said.
He said that at the gram sabha meeting on Sunday the villagers sought a vote on the plan only to see it rejected by the ruling panchayat body which resulted in a bulk of the villagers walking out of the gram sabha meeting.
“The planning has to be done at the village level and the NGPDA should only compile the plan and formalise it. What we have here is the NGPDA deciding what is to be done. There should be a rethink of this entire plan and process. It is completely haphazard,” Kurtikar said.
“It’s not that we are against development, we want it to be done in phases and step by step. They want to do it all at once leaving nothing for the future. Things have to be planned according to how they are growing,” Kurtikar said.
The group insisted that what they were doing had no political backing and that the only reason they had come together was a better plan for the village.
Others opposing the plan including Damiao Teles sought to remind Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai of his words when he was in the opposition and he called the ODPs as a “scam” saying that nothing has changed since then.
“The minister should take the RP 2021 which he has kept in the fridge and keep the current ODP in the fridge,” Teles said. They have called for the complete scrapping of the ODP which is currently stayed by the Bombay High Court of Goa.
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Calangute-Candolim ODP open for suggestions till Apr 15
PANAJI: The Chairman of North Goa Planning and Development Authority (NGPDA) Michael Lobo, has said that people have time till April 15 to give suggestions and recommendations on Draft Outline Development Plan (ODP) of Calangute and Candolim.
Speaking at a press conference, Lobo said, “After April 15, we will take a month more for formalities. Within 3 to 3.5 months, we will be able to present a very good plan (for Calangute and Candolim) to the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Board for finalisation.”
Lobo also informed that around 8 lakh square meters of land have been marked in this draft ODP for public utilities in Calangute and Candolim. The respective communidades of Calangute and Candolim will give 8 lakh square meters of land for public utilities.
Revealing details, Lobo said, “We have marked water harvesting area, community hall, 2-3 more grounds, transport zone, vocational training institute, multi-purpose car park, indoor sports complex, market complex, health centre and electricity sub-station in the draft ODP of Calangute and Candolim.”
Lobo further informed that over 50,000 square meters of land has been marked in the draft ODP for a community hall and 7,500 square meters land has been marked for a multi-purpose car park.”
“Calangute village doesn’t have a market complex as of now. The planned market complex will have all the facilities of the state government under one roof like water, electricity and panchayat. All the outstation vehicles (which tourists use) will go to the transport zone marked. From there, tourists will commute using cabs,” he continued.
Lobo also made an appeal to the communidades of Calangute and Candolim to be part of this development.
He said that very soon action will be taken against illegal constructions in Calangute and Candolim. Lobo said, “More than 54 structures have been built in paddy fields in violation of law in Calangute.” More than anything else, Lobo emphasised that the exercise of ODP will help the residents of Calangute and Candolim in regularising their structures.
He explained, “In this plan, we are giving lot of stress on tourism so that people benefit. Locals can build their own guest houses and resorts. This is the only business they can do. For example, somebody has built in Calangute a structure as a guest house and he has crossed 100% floor-area-ratio (FAR), we will give him extra FAR. We will see that our locals are protected by ODP.”
