The government is bent on destroying the quaint character of Goan villages by reviving the scheme to confer ‘urban status’ on most of them, allegedly at the behest of the real estate lobby and land sharks. Urban classification would permit nearly four times more construction than village settlement zones through a higher Floor Area Ratio (FAR), which existing infrastructure, already strained, cannot support. Ugly multistorey buildings could replace paddy fields, rivers, streams, sacred groves and orchards. With many seeking quick profits, illegal construction may rise, land prices could soar and builders would benefit immensely. Villages already face power and water shortages, garbage problems and rising crime. Residents would also be burdened with steep increases in property taxes, commercial licence charges, building sanction and sanitation fees, making the traditional village way of life financially unviable. The move would undermine grassroots democracy and self-governance by effectively stripping panchayats and gram sabhas of their powers, transferring decisions over land and livelihoods to bureaucrats and politicians. It amounts to a wholesale change in land use. This ‘urban status’ proposal, critics say, must be resisted by everyone who cares for Goa.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
