Regional plan should be for the people of Goa

NEWS FEED : THE HINDU
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/regional-plan-should-be-for-the-people-of-goa/article7191979.ece

The Goa Bachao Abhiyan has urged Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and Deputy Chief Minister Francisco D’Souza not to open the Goa Regional Plan 2021 only for MLAs but to work for the interest of the people and the environment.

In the absence of a clear plan, the body has said land filling, violations of Coastal Regulation Zone norms and deforestation are taking place. The controversy over the regional plan continues with opposition to the plan being opened for MLAs.

“The GBA is shocked at how the government is releasing contradictory statements on the plan. The latest talks are about taking only MLAs into confidence to rectify the errors being pointed out by the people,” said Sabina Martins of Goa Bachao Abhiyan here recently.

She pointed out that the plan was in public discussion for four years and has set guidelines. This was an exercise done as opposed to the ‘closed door’ exercise where the land-use plan was sold to the highest bidder in the case of the 2011 regional plan. The plan had to be scrapped by the then Congress government after an agitation by the body. The body also recalled that comments and suggestions were filed and tabulated after the last notification, with disputes being given a structured hearing. This was stopped during the 2012 Legislative Assembly elections and never restarted.

“Today, five years after the notification of the regional plan 2021, efforts have not been made to collate this base data,” they said.