the goan I network
MARGAO
Reiterating his demand for the scrapping of the RP21 and preparation of a fresh plan, former Minister Mickky Pacheco on Saturday said the government is on a campaign to misguide the people with an eye on the 2019 election, by making promises to rectify discrepancies in the RP and at the same time passing the controversial TDR Bill to benefit the real estate lobby.
He also wondered whether the TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai can promise to remove the 25-mts wide road passing over the Colva Church when the government has not yet given its assent to the Bill.
Addressing the media, Mickky pointed out that the removal of the 25-mts major district road proposed in the RP21 over the Church had been the demand of the villagers of Colva for a long time now. “But, the TCP Minister and Benaulim MLA Churchill Alemao are out to misguide and blackmail the religious leaders to garner votes of the minority community ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election,” he told the media.
Refuting Churchill Alemao’s statement that he had supported the Bill to protect the Colva Church, Mickky demanded that the Benaulim MLA should answer whether he has supported the controversial TDR Bill or not. “The TDR Bill should be sent to the village panchayats to take the say of the people. I am all for the removal of the 25-mts Colva road proposed over the Church, but it can be done by scrapping the RP21. The fact that this government wants to remove the road case by case indicates that it has a hidden agenda,” he said.
Mickky reminded that the BJP has come to power in 2012 on the plank of scrapping the RP21. “After the BJP had come to power in 2012, the plan was kept in abeyance. Now, this government and the TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai has not only revived the plan but has brought the TDR Bill which will destroy whatever that is left of Goa,” Mickky said.
He claimed that the 16-B Amendment to the TCP Act does not only empower the government to rectify the deficiencies but gives vast powers to change zones.
