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PDAs, Goa's Planning for Destruction Authorities Goa's Planning & Development Authority (PDA), The Town & Country Planning (TCP) Department, and allied governmental agencies are systematically destroying the ecology, topography, and natural resources of India's smallest state. This is becoming possible thanks to a lethal combination of greedy politicians, and bureaucrats with a metropolitan mentality and a willingness to share the booty! These agencies have been functioning in total disregard to the laws and practices of Goa's traditional local governance institutions like the Comunidades. In this soul searching, matter-of-fact article, the writer traces the start of the plunder and the factors that influenced the formation of these destructive bodies. This article first appeared in the GOA MESSENGER -- http://www.goamessenger.com. GoanetReader's appeal is: Support smaller publications to promote diversity int he media. By Soter D'Souza [EMAIL PROTECTED] GOA MESSENGER Goa's forefathers had carefully planned Goa's development through unwritten, but collectively-respected, laws. Laws like those that came to be codified by our Portuguese conquerors in the form of the Code of Comunidades of Goa. But our modern day rulers have thrown all this native wisdom and knowledge to the windsm while going in pursuit of a quick buck. November 4, 1975 will be a fateful day in the history of Goa. This date marked the beginning of the destruction of 'Golden Goa', as some call it. The then Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party government, with Pratapsing Raoji Rane as law minister, craftily piloted what is known as the Goa, Daman and Diu Town and Country Planning Act, 1974(TCP). Ever since this law came into force, the politicians and the builder lobby in Goa grew richer while the Goan citizen became poorer. 'Poorer' here does not mean merely in an economic sense, but moral, cultural, social and ecological loss as well. What on the face of it is a law for planning, has ultimately resulted in the destruction of this beautiful State. The raison d'etre, as mentioned in the Act, sounds good: "To provide for planning the development and use of rural and urban land in the Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu, and for purposes connected therewith". In reality, the law has only been used to plunder Goan villages and alienate the average Goan, under the guise of providing housing and infrastructure development in this State. The constituting of the Planning and Development Authority (PDA) under section 20 of the Act is nothing but a follow-up on the attitude of the British and Portuguese colonialists who used to squeeze the commonman for the good of the Empire. These PDAs have been long filled with politicians and their cronies, whose reason for being on these Boards is well known to the Goan public. These PDAs which were at first only limited to the urban areas of Margao, Vasco, Panaji and Mapusa were gradually extended to the surrounding rural villages of Penha de Franca, Pilerne, Socorro, Saligao and Calangute. It was Dr. Wilfred D'Souza, during his tenure as Chief Minister, who later scrapped the jurisdiction of the PDAs from these villages. A move deeply appreciated by every villager from these areas. It is the present BJP government, under Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, which has reintroduced this destructive authority in village panchayat areas of Bardez. Not satisfied with the plunder, the government's latest target is now the village panchayat areas of Salcette taluka. There is no doubt that a planning body is required for the long-term orderly and healthy planning of development in this State. But the Town and Country Planning Department and the PDAs have been doing everything else, other than planning. This is evident from the increased congestion in newly developed townships like Porvorim in Bardez and Gogol and surrounding areas, outside Margao, in Salcette. These townships, which are hardly ten years old, are congested and have become breeding grounds for epidemics and criminals. Massive housing projects have been permitted by these agencies, resulting in the total breakdown of basic infrastructural facilities like water and electricity supply, parking lots, and recreational spaces. The absence of reserved garbage disposal sites has now resulted in garbage being dumped all over the place, and 'garbage wars' erupting between villages. These once tranquil localities, acclaimed for their traditional housing designs, have been transformed into the 'elite slums', like those that exist in some unplanned metropolises in our country. The term 'elite slums' is probably appropriate for these cramped up box-type buildings with poor sanitation, lack of proper ventilation, and the absence of recreational space, which are occupied by the upper middle class and upper class citizens. These newly developed residential localities no more bear the trace of Goa on them, although most of them are situated on land belonging to the traditional institutions of local self-governance called the 'communidades'. These new townships more resemble the suburbs of cities like Mumbai, Calcutta, or Chennai. So what has gone wrong? The answer, of course, is very evident to the common Goan. Firstly, every Chief Town Planner of this department was someone without close links to the state, whether coming from West Bengal, Maharashtra, Kerala or Tamil Nadu. The mindset of these planners was metropolis-oriented and they had little knowledge of Goa's culture, architecture and ecology. Their unchallenged stints in office never compelled them to even try and understand the local realities. All that they had to adhere to was a simple unwritten code better suited to help the politicians in their plunder. The rest of the booty was to be shared by them. Over the years, these planners have been literally bought over by the real estate lobby, and will do anything to relax the law for a handsome reward. It shows. In the past, these planners helped themselves to prime ccmmunidade land at Porvorim, inorder to set up their own housing colonies. One of them was even hauled up by the courts for fraud, and had to demolish his structure on the said court's directions. There is absolutely no accountability fixed on the Town Planners, and the government's promises to tackle corruption in the State remains nothing but loose talk. Secondly, under the Act, a Regional Plan had to be prepared. This was done and came into force in the 1993. But if the Official Gazettes of the Government are referred to, one will notice that within just a year of the development plan being notified, there have been changes in zoning from agriculture to settlement area almost on a weekly basis. A regional plan ought to be a blue-print for 25 years. It took almost three long years for Goa's regional plan to be notified. So how come these changes are being allowed in this plan? The answer again is simple. There was no demand for land at the time of notifying the Regional Plan. In the mid and late 'nineties, however, as the real estate market got overheated and the construction boom caught on, the builders' lobby began its manipulations. It was ready to pay the price. Ministers concerned could not resist the lucrative offers being made, and, so also, the bureaucrats. It is Section 39 of the Act which is being twisted and exploited to justify the changes. In reality, section 39 allows only minor changes necessary for correcting any typographical or cartographical errors and omissions, or details of proposals not fully indicated in the plan. Any alterations to be carried out to the development plan may be done at least once in ten years, but, only after carrying out fresh surveys. Thus the Town and Country Planning Act means nothing to Goa and the TCP Department has earned the dubious public distinction of being the most corrupt of all government departments. Thirdly, the mapping of Goa was done during the Portuguese regime by every communidade. Accordingly, land was classified for purposes such as for settlement, grazing, horticulture, agriculture, and so on. Planners from the TCP Department paid scant respect to these traditional land classifications, and went about haphazardly permitting constructions. Goa's influential real estate lobby managed to bribe their way through, and violate, the requirements laid down for the development of these lands. While their plans show a 10-metre-wide road, if one was to actually make an on-sight visit, he will find it difficult to spot even a three-metre wide access. See for yourself! Reserved open spaces have disappeared in several localities, as these developers even sub-divided and sold the open spaces, with the approval of the planning authorities. Fourthly, even a lay person would appreciate that urban and the rural areas need to have separate sets of rules. But, cleverly, the government has been applying PDA rules and regulations to rural areas and has been dragging its feet in notifying the building rules for village panchayats. All claims of having a common building code has also not materialized. Some indications suggest that the TCP department or other vested interests has been sabotaging the move, because the notification of these rules would deprive the department of the clout and arbitrary powers it exercises in Goa. Justification given argue that change of land-use is required for the growing demand of housing in Goa. This is totally false. If one takes care to observe the housing projects that are constructed, it is glaringly evident that they are mostly occupied by migrants. Many others are bought and kept unoccupied, under lock-and-key. Some projects also serve a section of locals to conceal black-money by purchasing flats and shops all over the place. Exorbitant prices demanded by builders are surely not affordable for the average Goan, and that is why there is an increasing pressure on the government to provide free land for housing. The PDAs, which are, in effect, planning the destruction of Goa, have to be stopped by the people. For the moment, they can, most appropriately, be renamed the 'Planned Destruction Authorities of Goa'. The recent protest, from many quarters, over the government's fresh move to include village panchayats in planning areas, is a positive development. It appears that this is a move by the BJP government to politically weaken Salcette Taluka, through the use of rapid urbanisation. Goa does not need an Adil Shah or the Portuguese to plunder this State. Our very own politicians and their cronies are doing a fine job of it. And if Goans do not wake up to this hellish scheme unleashed on this State, then all one can say is God save Goa! ENDS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- GOANET-READER WELCOMES contributions from its readers, by way of essays, reviews, features and think-pieces. We share quality Goa-related writing among the 7000-strong readership of the Goanet/Goanet-news network of mailing lists. If you appreciated the thoughts expressed above, please send in your feedback to the writer. Our writers write -- or share what they have written -- pro bono, and deserve hearing back from those who appreciate their work. GoanetReader welcomes feedback at [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Goanet, 1994-2004, building community for a decade. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Frederick Noronha 784 Near Convent, Sonarbhat SALIGAO GOA India Freelance Journalist TEL: +91-832-2409490 MOBILE: 9822122436 http://fn.swiki.net http://www.livejournal.com/users/goalinks fred at bytesforall.org http://www.bytesforall.org
