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Saving Goa from itself

The groundswell of public anger against the Goa Regional Plan 2011 reflects the power and influence of popular protest. The spirited campaign in India's sunshine State — which saw non-governmental organisations, the church, intellectuals, artists, and grassroots citizens come together in an extraordinary upsurge of public activism — has forced the Goa Government to place the controversial Plan on the backburner. The Plan, a blueprint for land use, environmental management, and resource conservation up to 2011, is a deeply flawed document. It has major implications for the State's ecological well-being. Notified in August 2006, it opens up an area of about 75 square kilometres, covering largely green belts and coastal stretches, for construction. While permitting an excessive floor area ratio (FAR) of 80 per cent in the new settlement areas, it has paid inadequate attention to basic infrastructure requirements such as water, electricity, sanitation, and waste disposal. Worse, it seems to have been drafted with a disregard for existing laws governing development activity. Last month, the Panaji Bench of the Bombay High Court admitted a writ petition challenging the Plan on the ground that it violated the Town and Country Planning Act 1974, the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980, and the notifications relating to coastal zone management.

Led by the Goa Bachao Abhiyan, the firestorm of protests against the Plan has put the State Government in a difficult spot. Last week, Atanasio Monserrate, Minister for Town and Country Planning, resigned from his position after blaming party colleagues for not supporting him during the protests against the Regional Plan. On the heels of this, the Government announced it would keep the earlier 2001 Regional Plan in force and refer the 2011 Plan to a panel of experts for scrutiny. The decision has not mollified the protesters. They demand scrapping the notification itself, fearing that anything short of this may see the Plan re-emerge in some other form. A popular destination for holiday seekers, Goa attracts almost 12 per cent of the total number of foreign tourists arriving in India and about 75 per cent of the direct charter traffic. Tourism has brought prosperity to the State but it has also mounted tremendous pressures on its coastline, forests, and farmlands. A shortsighted development policy led by greed and the desire to make quick profits cannot be the basis for sustaining Goa's unique charms and ipso facto its appeal as a tourism destination. Those responsible for drafting the Plan have failed to understand that the State should not be made a victim of its own success.

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