RP2030 exercise won’t start from scratch, to be based on RP2021

Panaji: The BJP-led government’s much-delayed common minimum programme (CMP) has resolved to “work towards RP 2030,” triggering a debate whether the long-drawn process and labour hours spent to prepare the 2021 plan will be wasted or a completely new plan would be formulated.
Government agencies involved in the making of the RP say that the government’s thinking is not to cast aside RP 2021, but undertake its revision to unveil RP 2030.Town and country planning (TCP) minister, Vijai Sardesai was the first one to initiate the debate for a 2030 plan on the grounds that RP 2021 will not hold good in less than four years.
“The government will have to decide whether it is better to go for rectification of RP 2021 or its revision. The latter will facilitate in preparing a plan for 2030. No decision has been taken yet, but the thought process has begun,” said chief town planner of Goa, S T Puttaraju. There’s a provision to revise the regional plan after seven years as per the TCP Act, he said.
Considering that the government may choose revision of RP 2021, it would mean updating the data and bringing it forward with a projected figure. “We have the database of the plan prepared in 2010-11. Besides, we have the 2011 Census data,” Puttaraju told TOI.
Defending the process behind formulation of RP 2021, he said the experts’ projections were matching with that of 2011 Census. The 2011 Census report was not released when RP 2021 was finalised and notified. “Even the growth of census towns was almost the same as projected in the 2011 census”, he added.
Sources, however, said that the government would want to have a plan of transfer of development rights (TDR) in place before preparing RP 2030.
“We will first draft the land use policy, which would be the guiding principle for a regional plan,” chief minister Manohar Parrikar had said at a press conference recently. The policy will specify the type of land use for a particular land and the principles considered before a land is made settlement or non-settlement - all these aspects would be first laid down, Parrikar said.
Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA) stated that the ambiguity of Regional Plan 2021 is causing large-scale destruction and the immediate priority should be a plan to prevent further damage.
Keeping RP 2021 ambiguous has been the strategy of the people in power to exploit the situation. “Permissions are being given even on draft plans and we need steps to stop the ongoing destruction,” GBA convener, Sabina Martins had stated recently.