PANAJI: In the backdrop of rampant irregularities in the outline development plan process and Section 16B approvals, town and country planning (TCP) minister Vishwajit Rane on Monday announced that all approvals would be put under the scanner for discrepancies. Rane said he would not hesitate to suspend or scrap ODPs or approvals for change of zone granted under Section 16B of the TCP act.
Based on ongoing litigation and the objections from people, Rane has sought a review of the ODPs in Goa. “If there are discrepancies and we find a lot of deviations in this review, we can take a drastic decision to suspend the ODP. This will happen at the next board meeting, which I have called for very soon, then we will take a decision on the final ODP and the draft ODPs,” said Rane.
Rane made the announcements after chairing a meeting of the TCP board, where he too gave an indication that he intends to clip the powers of the different planning and development authorities in the state.
“Uniformity in planning and bringing transparency in the planning process and justification of what zoning is being done with thorough transparency is the need of the hour,” said Rane. “It will be mandatory for PDAs, if they are planning any ODP, to use the services of the consultant. We will not be giving any permission for the ODP to any of the PDAs if they do not use the services of these consultants. ODPs will not be at the liberty of the PDAs,” said Rane.
He said that a selection committee headed by the chief secretary and the chief town planner will identify and pick the planning agencies that will formulate the ODP process. He also said that a four-month time frame will be fixed for preparing the ODPs.
“We have to see that Goa becomes a state which has a beautiful planning perspective and for this we need agencies to help us with the planning under the overall supervision of the chief town planner,” said Rane.
“Agricultural land has to be protected, slopes have to be protected. At the same time we have to ensure there is thorough transparency. There is no guarantee that a final ODP will stay final. I have just asked for a presentation and a review and I can’t say what will happen,” he said.
Speaking about transparency regarding the 1,431 applications received under Section 16B, Rane said that a committee headed by chief town planner James Mathew will review all the cases and submit a report within 45 days.
“We have the minutes of the last few board meetings, we are not going to notify the minutes, we are just keeping all the cases taken on hold. If there is any deviation from the rules and regulations we will reject those cases at the next board meeting. This decision has been taken by the board,” said Rane.
