Goemkarponn desk
MARGAO: Citizens and Shadow Council for Margao today charged that the preparation of the Master Plan for Margao was a huge scam at the cost of the public exchequer.
Citing details from the RTI information sought from the GSUDA, Shadow Council Convener Savio Coutinho charged that the agency is supposedly working on a job, the contract of which expired way back in February 2023.
Coutinho further pointed out that inspite of an invalid contract, the GSUDA has paid the agency Studio POD a whopping amount of over 68 lakhs. Interestingly the GSUDA states that the Master Plan preparation is not completed and is still in progress, he said.
The press briefing was attended by SCM Convener Savio Coutinho, Jack Mascarenhas(GFPK), Arch Carlos Gracias, Lalan Parsekar, Camara, Jose Maria Miranda, Agriculturist Claudio Colaco, Mara do Carmo, Clifford Dias etc. made a strong demand for an inquiry into this fraud.
Coutinho said that as per the information provided by GSUDA, the contract for the preparation was awarded to StudioPOD Design Private Ltd. for a total amount of Rs. 2.30 crores including GST. By virtue of this contract, the agency was entrusted with the job of preparing the Plan for the Ponda, Margao and Valpoi Municipal Councils.
The information very clearly suggests that the actual work of getting inputs for the Margao Master Plan commenced on 7th February 2023, that is 3 days after the contract had expired. And in the absence of a valid contract, how did the GSUDA pay 68 lakhs towards the costs of Margao Master plan alone? questioned Mr. Coutinho.
He charged that through this Master Plan, massive concreteisation is being focused upon and hence the government is shying away from making the public participate in the planning process.
The very few green patches in the city are out for changes in Zone, thereby permanently stopping all agricultural activity that can be seen in Margao, agriculturist Claudio Colaco said.
The citizens charged that some force in Margao is personally behind the finalization of the plan, and is trying to ensure that the Master Plan is bulldozed through at all costs.
Coutinho recalled how in 2010 a Comprehensive Development Plan was mooted by Margao MLA, (the then Chief Minister), for which 40 lakhs was paid to an agency. When this CDP was displayed in the Margao Municipal Hall for public viewing, Madgaonkars realized what was in store for them, and upon raising objections, directions were given to send the plan back to GSUDA for necessary corrections. “This plan however never came back, but the 40 lakhs surely left the public treasury”, Coutinho said.
Our team of Engineers and Architects are going through the inputs the StudioPOD has collected from various people who this agency considers to be stakeholders, and very shortly we shall place before the public these details Coutinho stated.
Preliminarily, upon going through the list of the people the agency collected inputs from, it is very clear that with the exception of the builder lobby and the son of Margao MLA, no other relevant stakeholder has been consulted by this planning contractor, Coutinho informed.
Jack Mascarenhas pointed out that the planning agency appointed by the GSUDA claims that the drainage system is not a part of the Master Plan which is quite shocking. Mr. Mascarenhas cautioned that improper planning would render the Margao city like Bangalore which city, though considered to be a developed city, is haunted by scores of issues like flooding etc.
Arch Carlos Gracias demanded an explanation under what provisions of law the GSUDA has taken the preparation of the Master Plan.
