Not surprisingly, Goa's construction and real estate moghuls have jumped to TCP minister's defence supporting the latter's assertion that there have been glaring mistakes in the formulation of the Regional Plan 2021 that resulted in a large swathe of settlement areas being marked as green spaces and ecosensitive zones. Credai- Goa, an association of builders has gone so far as to say that laws pertaining to the Building Construction & Regulations Act 2010 were last amended decades ago and 'needed' to be changed.. This flanking strategy in defence of the mantri is not unexpected considering that the land sharks would be made available @ 60 million sq m of land for 'development' and would consequently be making money hand over fist. Environmentalists, architects, urban planners and civil society have roundly criticized this move, but the minister is simply hellbent on playing into the hands of the builders. An 'expert' committee consisting of members with dubious antecedents has been formed for the purpose of scrutinizing past planning data which is nothing but an eyewash ; it is simply another instrument to validate the minister's contentions.
