MARGAO
Madgavkars picked holes in the Master Plan for Margao 2041 presented by the Goa Urban Development Agency (GSUDA)-appointed Consultant Studio Pod, as they termed the plan nothing but a dream and the draft prepared without taking the ground realities into consideration.
This is the second time in as many days that the Master Plan has come under strong criticism. Wednesday saw the plan rejected by Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai after the consultant arranged a presentation for the MLA, and councillors backed him in the Margao civic body.
The presentation held at the Margao Municipal hall on Thursday saw citizens repeatedly on their feet to demand that the consultant prepare the Master Plan by incorporating public suggestions after visiting the wards to ascertain the ground reality and come back to the citizens with a presentation.
After a lady member of the consultant team said they had no issue in coming to the wards to resolve issues, if any, citizens demanded that the team visit all the 25 municipal wards before preparing the draft.
The consultant went about explaining the salient features of the Master Plan, also known as Margao Vision Plan 2041, highlighting proposals such as rejuvenating the River Sal for recreation, regeneration of public space, urban forestry at Sonsodo, community hubs in the municipal wards, et al. The consultant explained that it may require Rs 120 crore to implement the priority projects, by tapping central funds under various schemes.
Citizens, however, were not convinced by the proposals, insisting that what had been presented by the consultant was just a “dream” without taking the city’s ground reality and the citizens into account.
Social activist Dr Ashish Kamat set the ball rolling when he demanded to know the criteria used by the consultant to prepare the Master Plan. When the consultant replied that they had taken the Margao ODP as the base plan to prepare the plan, Kamat reminded that the United Goans Foundation had challenged the Margao ODP in the High Court since the ODP was prepared without preparing the land use plan.
He wondered why the Margao Municipal Council is in haste to prepare the Master Plan when the civic body has repeatedly failed to prepare and submit the annual development plan to the District Planning Committee.
He later told the media that the Master Plan for Margao was a farce prepared by the consultant without taking the ground reality into account. “We have suggested to the consultant to prepare the draft with GSP mapping and come back to the people after visiting the ward and preparing a comprehensive development plan,” he added.
Sanjeev Raiturkar, Pradip Naik, Shriram Raiturkar and others picked holes in the Master Plan, with Shriram saying the government will have to raze down buildings in the city to implement the plan. “Where is the space in Margao to implement the plan?” they argued, even as they demanded a minimum of two weeks' time to submit suggestions to the plan.
Former Margao Municipal Chairperson Savio Coutinho questioned the intention behind preparing the draft Master Plan when a similar exercise to prepare a Comprehensive Development Plan for Margao had ended in a fiasco over a decade and a half ago.
Terming the so-called “vision” for Margao’s future as nothing more than a blueprint crafted to serve a privileged few in the real estate lobby, Madganvcho Ekvott Convenor Prabhav Naik said Margao cannot and must not be reduced to a playground for profiteers, while ordinary citizens suffer from increasing congestion, flooding, and civic chaos.
A lady questioned the consultant over the proposal to set up a plaza at the heritage site near the Holy Spirit Church square. When the consultant tried to explain that similar heritage centres had been developed at Karol Bagh and other places, the citizen requested the consultant to be specific in its plan for the Holy Spirit heritage site. “Please explain to us exactly what is the plan for the Holy Spirit heritage area. I don’t want your plan at Delhi and other places,” she questioned.
Another citizen questioned the consultant over the proposal to set up community hubs at Monte Hill near the Chapel, demanding to know whether there is any government land left vacant at Monte Hill to set up the hub.
Andrew Sequeira said the draft Master Plan is not based on any sound footing and should be reviewed after taking the ground realities into consideration.
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Consultant skips presentation on plans for GSUDA-acquired land
MARGAO: Mystery shrouds the decision of the consultant Studio Pod to skip discussion on the commercial proposals mooted in the Master Plan on the GSUDA-acquired properties dotting the city.
The consultant dwelt at length on the salient features of the Master Plan for Margao 2041, but carefully avoided making any mention of the commercial exploitation of the GSUDA-acquired properties in the city.
Incidentally, when the consultant had arranged a presentation on the Master Plan on January 17, 2024, he had explained in detail how the GSUDA properties, acquired over two decades, would be developed as per the Master Plan. No mention of the proposals for the GSUDA properties was made at today’s presentation, raising a host of questions.
When The Goan asked the consultant why he made no mention of the proposals to develop the GSUDA-acquired properties in the commercial capital, the consultant said he was not touching the plans as far as the GSUDA-acquired properties were concerned. “We have not taken the GSUDA properties for discussion during today’s presentation,” he said.
Citizens, however, wondered why the consultant did not want to explain the proposals for the GSUDA-acquired properties in the presentation, demanding to know whether the proposals for the properties would be secretly approved without taking the citizens into confidence.
Farmer Claudius Dias, who along with a group of farmers is cultivating the GSUDA-acquired fields opposite the Margao Railway Station, questioned whether the consultant would prefer greenery or a concrete jungle at the lush green fields. Claudius made his presence felt at the Margao Municipal Council to make a suggestion to the government to drop any plan at the GSUDA-acquired fields other than agriculture.
