Goemkarponn desk
MARGAO: Concerned citizens of Margao today raised serious anomalies in the draft outline development plan (ODP) of Margao. The locals have raised 29 objections to the plan with regard to zone changes , and road width among others.
The citizens, who had submitted their suggestions and objection were today called by South Goa Planning and Development Authority (SGPDA) for a personal hearing.
Speaking to media persons, activist Savio Coutinho said that there are some major errors in the draft plan which need to be rectified. He said that a lot of low lying areas or orchard lands are shown as settlements.
He pointed out that the ring road proposed is not correctly shown on the draft plan.
NGO ‘Goyche Fuddle Pillge Khatir’ (GFPK) filed a memorandum with the SGPDA in January, raising nearly 28 objections. Jack Mascarenhas, GFPK President, said the SGPDA had asked them to attend the site inspections tomorrow.
“We demand that the SGPDA seriously consider our objections to this draft ODP-2031 and scrap it completely. Research-based sustainable development should be planned as per the available national guidelines, starting with formulating a land use policy for our State along with the State perspective plan,” said Mascarenhas.
Claiming that the SGPDA has carried out severe procedural blunders, GFPK slammed the major cartographic errors in a map prepared by private company Turbosktch for the Margao ODP, which shows roads with dead ends and railway lines with disjointed tracks in the town.
GFPK has demanded criminal proceedings on all four signatories to this plan who failed to identify the deficiencies – former Chairman Wilfred D’sa, Ranjit M Borkar, R Paulo Gomes and Prakash M Naik.
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