The people's plan
Regional Plan 2021 charts a brave and bold new path
Dr Oscar Rebello
It was audacious, it was historic and it was pure, undiluted magic. The
week that lapsed, must be a golden week for Goa. The sun truly rose
bright and incandescent from the west. The SEZs were given a decent
burial by the HIC of Goa and the Regional plan 2021 finally left its
womb (unaborted and undeformed) to chart out a brave new path for this
innocent little Iamb standing for slaughter by the Arabian Sea.
There'll be plenty of carping and criticism on essentially a few
pockmarks on the remarkable face of this plan. But that the Plan dares
to dream and dream big, no one can deny.
Highlights and Victories
- The near fanatic preservation of Eco sensitive zones which to my mind
is the real identity of Goa and Goans.
- The drop dead gorgeous look to our pristine villages by dropping FAR's
as wished for by the people.
- The chasing away of the land mafias that would have decimated and then
dominated our land. (though they'll try every trick in the book, to
sneak their way back in)
- The sensible walk down 73rd/74th Avenue. All the beautiful suggestions
that would embellish the plan were incorporated, all the ugly ones
weeded out.
- The almost obsessive compulsive detailed and extensive mapping
exercise which identifies each and every hill / pond / field / khazan
land. Any violation of these can now be easily prosecuted speedily and
then punished severely (hopefully)
- The intelligent creation of alternate economic thrust areas connected
by new rail and road networks. After all, people do need jobs to
survive. They surely can't sustain themselves on love, fresh air and
moribund economic theories.
- The cunning, very cunning, provision to heavily tax second homes in
Goa. We have to somehow halt Goa becoming one giant casino where every
pan chewing, seedy speculator comes to snake a fast buck, and scoot
while we are left cleaning up the mess.
- The affirmation that any Regional plan for a golden future requires
not just pen, (with green, not red refills) paper, compass and Google
but essentially have what this plan has -- A heart and a soul and a vision.
Pitfalls
The best laid plans can, however, be torn asunder by men and women of
straw. So, this plan can also be botched up big time. How?
- We will all be missing the elephant in the room if we do not address
the gargantuan issue of corruption in our Society. In Charles Correia's
immortal words “Corruption doesn't just come from top to down. It is
also a bottom up phenomenon”. Corruption is the life blood of this
Government. No question. The stench emanates from every pore of
governance and unless this python is annihilated or at least tamed by
the system, implementation of such a wonderful document will remain a
frustrating mirage.
PDAs: (The babudom that determines planning and growth in our cities and
an unbelievable cash cow) is an area the Chief Minister will tread
gingerly not to ruffle feathers. Will Goa be saved 100%?
- Flipping the Economy: As long as people in Goa think that mining,
building, sex, drugs and casinos are the only economic models we need to
follow, we are certain to slam head first in to a wall. There are
rumblings of change, though. Change to a greener economy. Agriculture,
Floriculture, Ecotourism, Educational Hubs and Green Industries. These
little streams must coalesce to give rise to a giant tidal wave that
overturns the more destructive models of economic growth.
- Donations of land: The rich, wealthy and connected in Goa have this
altruistic penchant to donate large tracts of land to religion, trusts
and other construction related activities. In a mood of extreme charity,
could they donate land in their possession back to the environment --
for posterity? Could there be a tax rebate on that?
- Education: Many of these ideas will dissipate in to clouds of snow, if
they are not taken forward by the youth of this state. The post
liberalisation generation, not shackled as viciously by agendas of
caste, religion, language and colonial balderdash must understand that
all this is about their future. A future, that they can choose to make
sustainable, peaceful, clever and prosperous. Or embark on a highway to
hell!
CREDITS: Credit must he given where it is due, the bows must be taken.
The CM: How this roly poly, apparently naive Chanakya manages to survive
and pull off a coup as tectonic as this, is difficult to comprehend. His
cabinet has gamely accepted the decision. The Cong - NCP party's on
board and the ship is on course. So, do all those religious pilgrimages
somehow help?
The SLC/Taskforce led by the clever and charismatic Charles Correia and
the wise and wonderful Prof Edgar Rebeiro: They burnt the mid night oil,
put plan to paper, faced the odds and delivered a triumphant product. It
didn't help much, however, to have one mercurial, temperamental idiot on
board. (guess who?)
The Politicos: These land battles would have never reached a climax it
not for the unstinted and vocal support of many in the political class.
Mathany Saldanha, Manohar Parrrikar, Shripad Naik, Nirmala Sawant,
Shantaram Naik, Froliano Lobo, Radharao Gracias, Christopher Fonseca,
Shashikala Kakodkar and many others. They kept hammering out at these
issues and kept the pressure cooker on.
Media: Nowhere in the world is the media more with the people rather
than power as much as it is in Goa. Every Editor (print and electronic),
every columnist and opinion maker (the more acerbic they are, the harder
they love the land) every letter writer wrote and published, voiced and
anguished, cajoled...and reprimanded to push Goa away from the abyss and
back to a modicum of sanity.
Civil society organisations: All of them, some celebrated, some
unnoticed, have waged a relentless, no holds barred, sword fight to the
finish to voice the grievances of the “aam aadmi”. A tad too idealistic
and non pragmatic at times, their commitment, sincerity, and their sheer
force of conviction is unparalleled in Goa 's history.
Religious organisations: The Church, Hindu Samaj religious heads and
Muslim organisations pitched in hard and fought long. And more so the
Church. To be a monumental moral force of courage and perseverance in
modern times, despite the odds, despite the taunts and jibes and despite
all the dark despair is one helluva task. Try carrying a cross every
single day of your life.
Celebrities and Goa-philes: From our rock stars to our novelists, our
thinkers to our NRGs, they lobbied in the corridors of power in New
Delhi, they pushed the envelope, and they ensured mega media attention
and made us believe that celebrities can also be on the right side of
history.
To paraphrase a JFK advice: “Ask not what the Plan can do for you but
together what we can do for the plan”.
PS: I will never ever have a rational, scientific and mathematically
precise explanation as to why all this has happened so I'll concede this
just this once, only once: There must be a God somewhere up there who
really loves Goa. (ENDS)
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First published in the Herald, Goa - November 29, 2010
