More power to the Goan People! The need of the hour is for all Goans to rally together and stand up and fight the injustice, destruction and corruption that we see in Goa today. Together as one voice we can put a stop to the destruction that is being wrought in Goa.
Chairing a marathon meeting on April 21st attended by members of various village groups, NGOs and Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA) which lasted nearly five hours, the village groups forced Secretary town and country planning and forest Rajiv Yaduvanshi, chief town planner Morad Ahmed, senior town planner S Puttaraju, deputy town planner Vinod Kumar director of panchayat Menino D'Souza to look into their grievances and various illegalities and list of violations allegedly by mining and major housing development projects and other Government authorities. When the village committees highlighted instances wherein various officials at different levels overlook laws or resort to dereliction of duty, in typical fashion Yaduvanshi adopted the typical stance of all these corrupt officials working at the behest of the politicians, real estate developers and mining industry saying “there should be an inquiry into such cases.” He further said that officers should be made accountable for permitting various projects. All these corrupt officials work in tandem with the MLAs and are the most corrupt bunch that Goa has ever seen. Chief minister Digambar Kamat had earlier assured a GBA delegation and also informed the Goa Assembly during the budget session that RP 2021 would be ready within six months. A month has passed since he made the statement Below are extracts from the Times of India and Herald. ****************************************************** NGOs justify opposition to govt projects HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, APRIL 21 If the government thought that some groups or NGOs make unnecessary and unwarranted noises over “development”, it was mistaken. At a marathon meeting held in the Secretariat, Secretary to the Chief Minister who also doubles up as Secretary (Town & Country Planning, Forest, etc) Raajiv Yadhuvanshi and other bureaucrats were made to realise how well-studied the village groups are when they oppose projects cleared by the government departments like TCP, etc in the villages of Goa. Armed with necessary documents, circulars of the government, notification copies, committee reports, the Village Groups came even with power point presentations, exposing the government of permitting huge projects disturbing demography and social fabric. The village groups brought to the notice of the bureaucrats and Planners from TCP department how developers have been allowed “to make hay while the sun shines”. It was also pointed out as to how the illegalities and violations had not been acted upon by the government despite several complaints. Showing documentary proof, some groups displayed how the big talk of conservation of eco-sensitive zones is humbug as they pointed out to constructions allowed in such zones. Among the bureaucrats present for the deliberations were Director of Panchayats Menino D’Souza, Chief Town Planner Morad Ahmad, Senior Town Planners R Putturaju and Vinod Kumar. Conducted by Convenor of Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA) Dr Sabina Martins, the proceedings had the participation of Ms Swati Kerkar (Kerim Nagrik Samitee, Keri-Ponda), Miguel Braganza (Joint Secretary, GBA), Annand Madgavkar (GBA Treasurer), Architect Hyacinth Pinto, Ms Judith Almeida, Dr Claude Alvares (Director, Goa Foundation), Orlando de Silva (Panch, Carmona), John Philip Pereira, (Voice of Villagers, Verna & WRD Task Force on Borewells), Ruben Sequeira, Carmen Miranda, (Loutolim), Xavier Fernandes (Raikarancho Zagrut Avaz), Durgadas Gaonkar (GAKUVED), Rama Lavu Velip, (GoaMAP, Colomb, Quepem), Prajal Sakhardande (GHAG), Anton Francis Fernandes (Mull Goenkarancho Songhottona, Quelossim), Domingo Pereira (Terekhol Bachao Union, Tiracol), Franky (SEZ Virodhi Manch), amongst the 35 persons who attended the meet. Apparently, impressed by the well-studied presentation quoting relevant laws and by-laws, Raghuvanshi assured to go through even case pointed out by the participants and get back on the issues raised soon. Issues were raised under three sections: Regional Plan 2021, Amendment to TCP Act and gross violations. Besides, the participants highlighted anomalies in the uniform building byelaws, rules on construction of farm houses, misuse of section 16 and 16A etc. To a query, TCP officials replied that they would go by the plans submitted by the committees constituted on the resolution of gram sabhas. Participants strongly objected to the committee headed by Deputy Speaker Mauvin Godinho on TCP Act saying a non-politician neutral, knowledgeable person should head such a panel. Besides, they demanded that there should be a new TCP Act incorporating 73rd and 74th amendment to the constitution. Claude Alvares brought to the notice of the officers that 54 violations in the mining areas have been noted by the monitoring committee of Goa government. ************************************************ Extract from Report in Times of India The village groups cites 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.
