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| | | | | Comments On News Reports | | | TRANSFER DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS - TDR
From: floriano
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Sent: Sunday, May 04, 2008 6:20 PM
Subject: TRANSFER DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS - TDR
Transfer Development Rights [ T D R ]
Goa has always been a sensitive place with sensitive sentimentalities for its natural beauty, its greenery, its hills and hillocks, its intertwined rivers with its sprawling mangroves and fish breeding grounds, its salt water ponds and salt-pans protected by a combination of sluice-gates and bunds , its vast deposits of mineral ores, its orchard and agricultural lands, its golden beaches, its ancient monuments and forts, its famous and world acclaimed Friday Market and its harmonious peoples with a combination of Western and Indian sub-continental cultures, and customs groomed over many centuries of western and indigenous coexistence with land and land resources management system known as comunidades of Goa, wholly indigenous , protected by the western interests over many centuries for its genuine, fair and effective managerial capability.
The subsequent, un-thought of and unplanned ravages on this sensitive land since 1961 has reduced this haven to a literal mass of confusion and governing mess combined with unplanned and mindless draining of its natural resources, especially its rich mineral ore deposits along with its flora and fauna resulting in the bringing of a decline in the most essential and previously abundantly existing underground water resources.
The bug of development has been mindlessly acceded to by the selfish political class to cash on the handsome returns wholly un-accounted, for creating an imbalance in its demography, which if allowed to go any further, will threaten the very fabric of decency and civility of this small enclave which has been preserved of many centuries and its inhabitants have fallen back to call its own.
The recent mad rush to claim a piece of land in this peaceful and beautiful enclave by the many segments of people, some genuine wanting to make Goa their home, some interested in making large profits, some wanting to use Goa’s relative docility to indoctrinate the culture of drugs and other vices like prostitution is tearing Goa apart with the political class either helpless in arresting the situation having allowed to get things out of hand or plainly encouraging the scene to gain from it, immune, and not even remotely concerned over Goa’s inevitable death.
It is a fact that one can increase many things by making them grow. But unfortunately, one cannot increase the land which does not grow and cannot grow. And if this rare and finite commodity is not used with utmost planning, it will be over and done with leaving nothing for the posterity of Goans to hold and to enjoy. It will be akin to being a stranger in one’s own land. The run on the sensitive lands of Goa as seen with the coming up of mega construction projects, mainly for residential purposes, the many Special Economic Zones mindlessly approved by the selfish and careless political class and vociferously opposed by the people at large, is sending a clear signal that some corrective action must be taken soon if these dangerous trends which are eating our precious and sensitive lands away and fast.
The people of Goa under the aeges of the GBA felt secure that the Regional Plan RP-2011 which was seen as a sell out of Goa to the highest bidder was scrapped entirely. But unfortunately they did not realize that the tentacles that this vile RP-2011 had managed to spread could not be stopped as a lot of money, more of ill-gotten means than authentic had changed hands during its short pendency and which could not be nullified or paid back. The result is the surfacing of the pimples of this RP-2011 in the form of mega projects in Carmona, Benaulim, Siridao, Vagator/Anjuna, Siolim, Aldona and not to spare small and compact Moira.
With the new Regional Plan RP-2021 in the pipe-line, if the Task Force that has been put together to study, plan and execute it is serious about preserving every inch of the sensitive lands which are the lungs of Goa, they will look at ways of studying the pros and cons of implementing a fool-proof concept of the sale of land without changing the ownership of the land and at the same time satisfying the land owner, the land developer as well as maintain and protect the no development zones in the most effective manner to bring Goa back from the brink of its imminent death.
The only concept that can satisfy one and all is the ‘TDR’ concept which simply means ‘Transfer Development Rights’. A system has to be evolved where the land owner is not put under pressure to convert the sensitive land he is sitting on to house any construction activity, his only means of using his precious land resources for his lively-hood and expansion of his living standards. And there is no reason that he should lose out on the market value for his land just because it happens to be located in the sensitive ‘no development zone’ whether it being a gradient hill slope, a CRZ restricted beach area, or a low-lying salt-pans or mangroves etc. This system if implemented will also, most importantly, not only arrest but also eliminate the scourge of corruption which is indigenous to the Town & Country planning Department in its many autars.
The planning requirement to accommodate this concept would be structured through the Regional Plan, notifying various levels of developmental zones such as (1) Very High Density zones where the sky could be the limit as horizontal expansion is not possible. (2) High Density. (3) Medium Density (4) Low Density and (5) Very Low Density zones. Once these zones have been identified through much needed public awareness and discussions, debates and public hearings, there must be no going back, whatsoever, to give it the permanency of a lifetime. Importantly, this decision must not be and cannot be reviewed by the next government which comes galloping to take its seat and seal its rule, however temporary. Therefore, public participation is vital in the formation of such life-long policy where people realize that what is proposed is for their own benefit and for the benefit of the posterity.
Once this is done, it is only a matter of evolving a system where a land owner who feels the need to utilize his land held asset/s, and having been classified in the Low Density Zone, for example, which is actually the ‘no development zone’ can sell his full or part FAR in the open market without altering the ownership of his land, which will forever remain with him if he so wishes, with the land not being able to be eyed for development purpose by anyone any further.
Also, the market prices of the lands located in the most remote areas can fetch handsome returns since these FARs can be utilized in areas of various densities.
In short, Goa’s sensitive areas which are needed to be made out-of-bound for development can be preserved with no restrictions put on the owners to make the sacrifices to forego the temptation of getting high returns through their development. In the bargain Goa gets what it needs to keep it beautiful and environmentally and ecologically sound and its people get to enjoy what they aspire for as an un-paralled haven, and at the same time the land-owning class get what they want to keep them happy and satisfied.
End
Floriano Lobo
Gen. Secretary,
Goa Environmental Action Group & Goa Su-Raj Party
383 A, Alto Pirazona,
Moira Bardez Goa- 403 507
(M) 9890470896
(R) (0832) 2470223
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| LIFE LINE |
Goa Su-Raj Party has been in existence since 31/08/2000.
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