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Goa Regional Plan 2021 - Comments from IGO of Ontario Canada

Ar. Dean D.Cruz - Member, Taskforce for RPG-2021, Goa, India.                       Oct 8, 2008

Hello Dean,

The International Goan Organization (IGO) of Ontario, Canada would like to:

- Commend the Government of Goa and the RP2021 Task Force in Goa for undertaking a comprehensive Regional Plan to guide the development and the growth of Goa present and future.

- Reinforce our support and belief in the Plan and the importance of the Plan for Goa and its people.

- Express the hope that the plan will be approved, financed and implemented with due fidelity to the tenets of the Plan.

As you know, the International Goan Organization (IGO) of Ontario, Canada established a taskforce in Toronto to review and provide input on the Goa Regional Plan 2021. The members of the taskforce in Toronto included among others the following:

- Dr. Mario Carvalho: Professor Emeritus, University of Manitoba, Canada. He was professor of urban and regional planning in the Faculty of Architecture, and he has worked in the developing world with a number of International Organizations on urban and regional projects. He assisted in the preparation of the first Regional Plan for Goa 2001, and in 1988 with his graduate students produced the study "Proposal for Development of Tourism, Goa, India", published in 1988.

- Mr. Braz Menezes: Architect and Urban Planner; worked in Urban Sector for the World Bank in Washington (U.S.A) with a focus on the Development of Urban Strategies, Metropolitan Cities and Municipal Management; and Post-Disaster Reconstruction.

It is quite evident that Goa Regional Plan 2021 has been formulated by professionals who have done a thorough and comprehensive job in data gathering, research, analysis and providing recommendations.

In view of this and the fact that we do not have this type of expertise and knowledge, the members of the IGO Taskforce in Toronto felt that we are not in a position to critique the guidelines proposed or comment on the merits of the Goa Regional Plan 2021 document. However, we would like to add value by providing our input and suggestions to the document by objectively identifying issues from our vantage point. I am therefore sending the attached document with the issues from Canada to you, as a member of the Taskforce appointed by the Govenment of Goa that developed the Goa Regional Plan 2021.

The International Goan Organization (IGO) of Ontario, Canada also contacted Mr. Tony Colaco, President GOA NSW Inc., Australia and Mr. Armando Figueiredo (UK) and provided them with the copies of the Final Draft Regional Plan 2021 and all the attachments provided by you in September 2008. As representatives of the global Goan community, the IGO of Ontario, Canada suggested that GOA NSW, Australia and GOA UK may consider setting up a team in Australia and the United Kingdom of individuals with professional and technical expertise to provide input to the Goa Regional Plan 2021 and provide it directly to you as a member of the Goa Taskforce.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Cellie Gonsalves
Director,
International Goan Organization (IGO) of Ontario

GOA REGIONAL PLAN 2021             Oct 8th, 2008

COMMENTS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL GOAN ORGANIZATION (IGO)of Ontario, Canada, Taskforce,

INTRODUCTION

The Goa Regional Plan 2021 (RPG 2021) offers hope that if implemented, Goa could well be on the right path towards progress in achieving the goals and objectives outlined in the Plan. We thank the Government of Goa for their foresight in creating a Taskforce of eminent people, to prepare the much needed Goa Regional Plan 2021 and guide the future of Goa, its land and people. The Regional Plan is already a very commendable product and deserves our careful consideration. The Taskforce Committee in Goa and all who contributed to the development of the Regional Plan 2021 are to be congratulated for the excellent and professional effort.

While most of the issues we have commented below are addressed in the Plan in much greater detail, we feel that special emphasis should be placed on some of the more crucial elements of the Plan.

• First to render it more acceptable to the  people of Goa and thus gain their confidence and support;
• Second  to assure its approval by all the relevant authorities and
• Third to make certain its implementation and strict adherence by both the public and private sector.

These we feel are critical ingredients for the Plan to succeed.

We also wish to emphasize that the plan should devote a good part of its recommendations to some short term tangible projects that can be implemented at the local village level and are in the public interest. This will help gain public confidence and hope that this time at least, some real outcome can be expected, and that Goa's resources are being distributed in a fair and equitable manner for the greater good of the people of Goa.  It is in this spirit, that we offer these comments for the consideration of the Taskforce Committee for RPG 2021 in Goa.

PREAMBLE

1. Goa's Regional Plan 2021 gives clear direction as to how social, economic and physical development and growth should take place in Goa to meet the current and future needs of its people. It is also intended to reflect their collective aims and aspirations, as to the character of the landscape and the quality of life to be preserved and fostered within Goa.

2. RPG2021 outlines a long term vision for Goa's physical form and community character. To pursue that vision, it sets forth goals and objectives, describes an urban structure for accommodating growth, states the policies to be followed. However, it needs to outline the means and processes for implementing and financing the plans, policies and programs outlined in the plan.

3. RPG 2021 requires to describe the processes to be followed in arriving at decisions, changes to be sought in legislation, and the impact on policy positions established by the Government of India.

4. The official portion of RPG 2021 should be prepared and provide, among other things, that no public work be undertaken and no municipal bylaw passed which does not conform to RPG 2021 and, furthermore, that all Zoning Bylaws of the Local Panchayats be amended to conform.

5. RPG 2021 should be reviewed and amended as required in the opinion of the Government of Goa to meet the changing needs of the people of Goa, and to reflect responses prompted by new issues, new information and changing societal values.

ISSUES & CHALLENGES

Goa's Regional Plan 2021 addresses many of the critical issues facing Goa, and based on extensive research and consultation brings forward some strong recommendations, proposals and solutions to the issues at hand.

1. Implementation:
The priorities of the RPG 2021 need better clarification with time frames and how it will be financed and implemented and not left to Government and bureaucratic authorities alone. This will assure the public, and offer some hope at least that the Plan might generate some concrete results. If we are to succeed in this endeavour, it is important to gain public confidence and not end up being yet another exercise in futility. Equally important is whether the Government Authorities will adhere to its objectives and directives. This is of paramount importance if the Plan is to succeed.

• For this to happen we first need strong public support, a kind of moral outrage to generate political will, and cause our politicians to support and commit to the Plan and assure that it will be  implemented and adhered to, once it is approved.


• It must be clear as well that the Plan cannot be subjected to constant and arbitrary changes, through legal and political manoeuvring or any Governmental fiats.


• That once approved, the plan will be subjected to periodic comprehensive reviews to assess its effectiveness, and modify as needed to meet the changing needs of the people of Goa. This must be an ongoing process done through public discourse and assuring full transparency. This is critically important or else the whole exercise will be in vain. The Task Force for RPG 2021 must clearly address this, and make strong and specific recommendations in this regard.

2. Community Participation
Strengthening the mandate for Community Participation in legal and procedural aspects should be one of the priorities. The public consultative and participatory process undertaken by the Task Force is commendable.

• We understand that community participation is a mandatory requirement under the 73/74 CA Act. Under no circumstances should this fundamental right be given up, even in the case of government-sponsored projects, as sadly, the perspective of politicians is usually limited to a period between elections. Thus some politicians do not always act in the interests of the community that elects them.


• The short time-frame available for community participation, in an environment where the institutions are weak (under-funded or inadequately staffed), and where corruption is endemic, as it appears to be in Goa, leads to a breakdown of good governance.


• There are increasing stories in both the local and international media on the issue of governance. Returning non-residents that make up the Goan Diaspora and potential investors, are constantly bringing back colourful reports on this issue.


• Participation should also take place at all levels of the Government, particularly at the Village Panchayat level. Likewise intergovernmental consultation and cooperation should be instituted and mandated specially between neighbouring  Panchayats.


• For the public participatory process to be effective and meaningful, it must be grounded on a sound information base. Consultation without adequate information is of little use. The public must be engaged and provided with basic information about their village and the surrounding villages, about the challenges and issues that affect them.


• This must be done, not in abstract terminology but with some targeted projects and programs that people can understand and see as real improvements in their living conditions. This will generate a more meaningful and constructive participation, rather than the usual reactive and negative responses. It will encourage the people to articulate their visions, their challenges, issues, problems and needs as they experience them.


• The public has much to offer, but they must first be assured that they have a rightful voice and a contribution to make towards the improvement of their community and thereby their Goa. They will thus be empowered to own the plan and assume responsibility for its implementation and adherence to the tenets of the Plan.


• The Plan should therefore establish some guidelines and procedures to assure meaningful and full participation of the people in all the phases of the Plan.

3. Preserving Goa's rich environment and natural resources
The delineation and preservation/conservation of all the eco-sensitive zones of Goa should be decided based on objective scientific analysis. These rich and varied resources should not be subjected to political and other influences, but preserved/conserved and enhanced for the present and future generations of Goans, and declared as non-negotiable components of the Plan.

• It must be clear that Goa is not to be exploited but respected and preserved. Environmental audit and assessment should take first precedence in all socio-economic-physical development proposals.


• The fragile ecosystems, the beach front, the Ghats region, the natural and ancient heritage sites must be preserved, rehabilitated and enhanced.


• There should be an environmental audit and strict guidelines with no ambiguity as to its determination in guiding future development. In this regard the Plan should address this matter as one of the primary issues and should again make strong recommendation, that must be adhered to, by all the implementing authorities and do so in the strictest sense.

4. Preservation/Conservation/Enhancement of Goa's Historic Heritage
"Without a living past" noted a Mexican scholar Carlos Fuentes, "we have only an inert present and a dead future". It is critical that our historic heritage be preserved as a patrimony to future generations.

• Creating special zones for specific historic areas to prevent undesirable encroachment of commercial and other activities is very important or else we will soon loose it for ever, and can never replace it.  RPG 2021 should make strong recommendations in this regard to develop a set of clear guidelines in dealing with our historic heritage.


• This must be in very specific terms and not subject to varied interpretations and opportunities to subvert for political or private sector exigencies.  The Goa Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1978 imposes some restrictions on commercial, industrial or residential development around heritage sites, but these are consistently being ignored and rarely enforced. This Act has to be re-examined in light of RPG 2021 and  stronger legislation enacted to prevent any development in the vicinity of heritage sites demarcating more  specific distances for various land uses encroaching such heritage sites.

5. Infrastructure - Urban and Rural
This should be a high priority given the inadequacy of the present system, of water, electricity, sewerage, waste management, road network and public transportation system particularly in the urban areas.

• These are services that affect all Goans on a daily basis, and the present system is dreadfully inadequate and painfully inefficient. A detailed plan of action is needed with staged development of capital improvements program with specific targeted dates for implementation. This will assure the public and be seen as some action is at least is being taken and provide a tangible evidence that Goa is improving for the good of the people and the country.


• We need a kind of comprehensive infrastructural strategic plan, both short and long term for the whole of Goa (urban and rural) to determine all its infrastructural needs (water, sewerage, waste management including road network and modes of transportation. This will prevent the present haphazard, inadequate and inefficient development.

6. Health, Educational and Social services
Health and education are the two most important services and have been addressed in the Plan. But what needs to be done is to develop a hierarchy of these services based on population distribution and densities. Their carrying capacities and accessibility should govern their placement. These facilities are lacking in Goa and most are at best inadequate and inaccessible.

• It is critical that these services be more specifically spelled out as to the existing distribution pattern and level of all the services and what the community can expect over the next five or ten years, so people know what to expect and when.


• Some specific target should be set for short and long term implementation, recognizing that not all the communities can get all the services they need or desire.

7. Growth Centers
All three physiographic zones of Goa, the coastal, the mid zone and the Ghats, each require special treatment and consideration in regard to land uses, patterns and densities of population distribution and rural-urban development strategies.

• New growth centers should be identified based on sound analysis of carrying capacities, physical, biological, social and economic criteria.


• The growth centers should be encouraged to develop in the Talukas surrounding the present densely populated Talukas of Bardez, Tiswadi, and Salcete. This will help decentralize and concentrate growth in the new centers and help alleviate pressure on the already congested existing urban centers of Vasco, Panaji, Mapuça and Margao.


• Through special incentives and programs, new industries and other economic activities should be encouraged to locate in these new growth hubs, generating employment and improving the lives of the people in the region.


• This strategy in turn will need to be coordinated with the transportation and road network system.

8. Building a new International airport for Goa
This is a very contentious issue. While it is clear that a new International Airport facility is needed, it would seem that it should be located closer to larger population densities and within equidistance to all the people of Goa to access it.

• This would suggest it be located somewhere more central, in the region of Ponda Taluka rather than in Mopa in Pernem Taluka which is at the extreme north end of the state and least populated region and most inconvenient for the majority of people of Goa.


• Perhaps this matter has to be re-thought, for the benefit of the people of Goa first. If the public were consulted on this issue, we believe that one would get similar response.


• This matter should be given a fresh assessment by a team similar to this eminent Task Force Committee.

9. Rules and regulations governing development
The Goa Town and Country Planning Act 1974, with the Amendments need a thorough revision and a fresh mandate directed at planning from Local Village Panchayat level up to District level. Likewise there is an urgent need for a Building Code and Zoning By-laws to assure safety and health of our built environment.

• For the larger urban areas an Urban Design Guidelines to control the quality and design of development taking place and ensure that it is consistent with the existing fabric of the city and respects the design language of the place.


• The role of the PDA's is also vague, with overlapping jurisdictions that lead to confusion, conflicts with no clear line of authority or direction.


• The Planning Act must be clear in providing both restrictive and permissive guidelines, densities etc., for guiding approval for all developments.


• There should be an overall official comprehensive development/ structural plan for Goa and Town Planning Schemes or "Local Area Plans" for guiding development at the village level. These should demarcate land uses, conservation areas, fragile ecosystems, growth centres etc, and provide guidelines, so that the Local Village Panchayat  can implement its directives without ambiguity. This is one of the critical problems which the Panchayat Office constantly faces when it has to approve any local development.


• The actual hierarchy of authority is not clear and the role of the Panchayat office is equally vague. There are no plans or guidelines to assist the Panchayat officials and as a result decisions tend to be made quite arbitrarily, and often bad decisions made leading to criticism, conflicts, objections and very lengthy delays. In the end nobody benefits and many needed community improvements stagnate and people suffer.


• The new Goa Regulations for Land Development and Building Construction Act 2008 should be re examined in light of RPG 2021 and modified accordingly .

10. Limits to Growth and Economic Sustainability
The RPG 2021 correctly identifies that there are limits to growth and to economic and environmental sustainability of Goa. This is reflected in the availability of land for different purposes, and of infrastructure, services and employment opportunities. Policies will have to be implemented that confront the challenge head-on.

• There is no reason to believe the pressures will decrease. As the fast growing middle-class swells its numbers in the rest of India, increasingly more Indians will want a little piece of Goa for holidays and perhaps a second home there.


• The reality is that even at its current worst physical conditions that Goa has seen in its recent history, Goa is still relatively 'clean and beautiful' compared to the squalor and plight of big Indian urban centres where the tourists will come from, so many will be happy and not notice - nor care - about the environmental decline.


• Mining pressures also will continue given high demand until the last lump of ore is mined out. The benefits of aggressive mining go primarily to the industry, but the cumulative costs to the broader community in Goa are not yet a 'charge-back' to the industry - so this segment of the economy are not going to particularly care about what happens to Goa as a result. The industry should be a party in seeking a sustainable solution.

11. Consider focusing a short-term priority program within the RPG 2021
We believe that Goa is already facing a situation that demands an immediate 'Disaster Management Strategy' to contain further deterioration, even while the RPG 2021 is under preparation. The obvious and visible manifestations of this deterioration are:

• The streams of raw sewage now flowing in stream beds in the tourist areas of the beaches in North Goa and in most urban centres (Margao in South Goa is a good example);


• The accumulation of garbage (including dead animals) in roadside drains and streambeds, the water shortages, the power shortages and acute traffic congestion;


• The vast areas of apparently abandoned industrial structures and derelict and boarded buildings;


• The apparently uncontrolled hillside cutting and open mining areas;


• The uncontrolled 'shanty-town' growth (probably not yet officially 'designated' as slums yet);


• The growth of informally 'annexed' villages especially in North Goa, that now are allegedly run as independent territorial enclaves by a host of 'foreigners'; and finally,


• The much advertised growth of child prostitution, narcotics trade and gambling casinos.

This is not to distract from the proposal in RPG 2021 to develop a 'Disaster Management Strategy (DMS)' and institutional capacity to deal more directly and immediately with suddenly occurring natural and/or man-made disasters (tsunamis, floods, landslides, toxic spills, cholera/typhoid/SARS, among others). There are issues for DMS of infrastructure needs, alternative transportation connective ness, and overall emergency preparedness that can be usefully incorporated into RPG 2021.

12. Introduce a Touch of Reality
Because of the urgent need to meet the existing 'backlog' in almost every sector, it is necessary to establish how much can be realistically done under the normal public budgetary support from different levels of government, and what parts of the Plan must be financed by the private sector.

• Speculators in real estate currently contribute almost nothing towards financing the public infrastructure, and presumably exert pressure (and perhaps even offer incentives as well) on local politicians to divert funds from more urgently needed projects to serve the local population.


• RPG 2021 appears to be too much of a wish-list and an attempt at prioritising will improve it. Similarly the establishment of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) should be deferred, until the issue is better discussed and evaluated objectively against a broader vision of where Goa is heading.

13. Ownership and Community 'buy-in':
Consider communicating details of the Plan consistently and repetitively - include with this excellent report, a Chart that sets out:

• the Planning Vision and general philosophy. (Where do we want to be?),


• Policies including goals, objectives, permitted uses, and general policies for each land use designation on the Regional Structure map. (What are present policies that we must change to get there?)


• Practices indicate how the Plan is intended to be carried out to achieve the overall planning vision. (How are we going to strengthen the institutions, practices and procedures to improve the processes and enforcement of laws, etc.?)

This Chart could be made into wall posters that are distributed widely so that every member of the community is involved. Goa is small enough territorially to do this effectively.

14. Political Will and Governance:
Ensure that the political will is there. Who are the strong political leaders that inspire and share a longer term vision for Goa?  Who are they that can become reliable champions for guiding and implementing the RPG 2021?  Have they been identified and are they fully 'on board'?

• The political will is what will ensure the introduction of good governance and credibility for the RPG.


• The local Community and all stakeholders will be reassured that the RPG 2021 will be implemented satisfactorily - a project that will start with a program for the immediate rescue from current decline, and lead to the eventual sustainable transformation of the State of Goa.

CONCLUSION

This is an opportunity for this distinguished Taskforce Committee for RPG 2021 in Goa to dare and put forward strong recommendations, suggest Teams of Experts to undertake more specific studies, put forward strong policies and programs, make recommendations that can translate the wish list of policies and programs of the RPG2021 into action plans and projects that are implementable. The RPG 2021 should be subjected to public scrutiny and gain their support. There are many examples in the world where such strategies have been successfully used - examining such examples and lesson drawing might help.

The above provides our input for consideration by the Taskforce Committee for RPG 2021 in Goa. We believe that a more in depth examination is not possible from Canada given our limited resources and capabilities and in view of our "arm's length" review of such a comprehensive document.