Herald:
Panajim: Sunday, 21 June 2015.
The Laxmikant
Parsekar-led government has set December 31, 2015 as the deadline for settling
the controversies surrounding the Regional Plan 2021 (RP21) by notifying the
land plan in ‘one go’.
The outline
development plans (ODPs) of Margao and Ponda will also be kept open for
rectification on lines with the recently opened ODPs of Taleigao, Mapusa and
Vasco.
Speaking to
Herald, Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Town and Country Planning (TCP)
Francis D’Souza said, “By December 31 this year the plan will be notified and
the issue will be settled once and for all. This is the final and ultimate
deadline set by the government to itself.” He added, “From next week meetings
will be held on a weekly basis on the issue.”
In its 2012
assembly poll manifesto, BJP had promised that the RP2021 notified by the
earlier Congress government would be scrapped and a new plan taking all
stakeholders into confidence would be drawn. While certain sections are in
favour of notifying the existing plan, there are also demands that the plan be
scraped.
The BJP
government is clear that there is no need to scrap the existing land plan but
that it can be notified by making necessary corrections at the village level.
According to
information available under Right to Information (RTI) Act, 166 panchayats have
submitted inputs for corrections in the notified RP21, while 15 have demanded
that the plan be scrapped.
NGOs like Goa
Bachao Abhiyan that spearheaded the agitation against the then Congress-led
government drafted land plan, demand that the correction process of the plan at
each village be undertaken before finalizing RP21. The hearing and correction
process of the land plan that was halted due to the election code of conduct of
March 2012 Assembly election needs to be recommenced.
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