‘Spatial amendment will enable land use planning at panchayat level'

Panaji: The amendment to the Goa Panchayati Raj Act passed in the assembly to replace the word ‘special’ planning with ‘spatial’ planning aligns with the 73rd constitutional amendment and gives powers to panchayats to make plans, said Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA).
GBA convener Sabina Martins said that it will enable land use planning at the panchayat level through ward development committees (WDCs) and it will ensure participatory planning by local bodies. A GBA delegation met law minister Aleixo Sequeira to get the error corrected in the act.
“Local bodies have been left out of the ‘spatial’ planning process for more than three decades because of this error. It denied the statutory nature of planning rights with regard to ‘spatial’ planning, further denying structural organisation of WDCs, funding and training,” said GBA secretary Reboni Saha.
GBA alleged that the planning process was usurped by the TCP department, which bypassed people’s involvement through unilateral decisions and lopsided regulations.
The GBA said govt should make similar corrections in the TCP Act, the Goa Land Development and Building Construction Regulations, and other legislation.