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News ArticlesRP 2021 will be ready in 6 months, assures TCP secyNavhind Times The Town and Country Planning secretary, Mr Rajiv Yaduvanshi on Wednesday reassured people that the Regional Plan 2021 would be completed within six months after taking all aspects into consideration even as he agreed to look into the demands placed by various village groups. Chairing a marathon meeting attended by members of various village groups, NGOs and Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA) which lasted nearly five hours, Mr Yaduvanshi assured the village groups to look into their grievances and various illegalities and to submit a report to the Chief Minister, Mr Digambar Kamat. Stating that amending the Town and Country Planning Act is a tedious process, the TCP secretary asked the various groups to mobilise other stakeholders to come out with comprehensive suggestions in key areas which need amendment. With regard to hill cutting which is still being carried out in various places, he said that it has been decided at the TCP board meeting that flying squads would be activated to monitor the hill cutting activities which are mostly active on weekends. He also suggested a mechanism like a helpline or an interactive website for citizens to inform the government machinery about illegal activities being carried out in the state. When the village committees highlighted instances wherein various officials at different levels overlook laws or resort to dereliction of duty, he said that there should be an inquiry into such cases. He further said that officers should be made accountable for permitting various projects. Several cases of sarpanchas submitting false village plans to the TCP department also came to light during the meeting. The committees also raised the issue of how Section 16 and 16A of the TCP is being misused. The proposed cricket stadium which is likely to come up at Tivim over an area of 1.30 lakh sq mt came in the firing line at the meet. According to the villagers, the area that is marked for the stadium is a forest area and also includes fields and orchards that have been declared as eco-sensitive zone 1 in the Regional Plan. Suggestions were also made at the meeting to bring industrial land under the purview of the planning authority even as various violations including development in eco-sensitive zones, conversion of industrial areas into housing projects, hill cutting, drilling of bore wells etc where brought to the notice of the TCP secretary. The groups also suggested that communidade land be protected along with hills in the state and that they should be included in ecological landscapes besides protecting mangroves and private forests. The TCP officials were slammed for not giving representation to private forests, which cover around 1 lakh hectares of land, in the regional plan and the village groups demanded that it should be incorporated in the RP 2021. Senior TCP officials informed that the forest area shown on the regional plan is one that is provided by the forest department. Mining issue also dominated the meeting as the representatives highlighted the plight of the residents in and around the mines. The representatives informed Mr Yaduvanshi of how people suffered due to illegal mines as water and fields were getting affected. Further, concerns were also raised about the mining activity in the catchment areas. The TCP secretary was also questioned on what action has been taken against 51 mines that are violating various laws as per the findings of a government study. Expressing his concern, Mr Yaduvanshi said that the government will act on illegal mines that are operating in the state; at the same time the government is studying the mining activity in the catchment areas, he said. He also suggested that the people could alert the administration on illegal mines that operate in the state and assured that the government will initiate action against them. The director of Panchayats, Mr Menino D’Souza, chief town planner, Mr Morad Ahmad and other senior TCP officials were also present at the meet. |
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