Villagers of Candolim have demanded that the Outline Development Plan (ODP) of Calangute-Candolim 2025

Villagers of Candolim have demanded that the Outline Development Plan (ODP) of Calangute-Candolim 2025 should be completely stayed and all licences issued based on the “ill-conceived” plan should also be revoked . The villagers said that a scientific, fact-based, professional and legal approach be implemented in order to deal with the illegalities enshrined in the ODP of Calangute-Candolim 2025
Addressing a news conference the locals, led by Roshan Mathias, a resident of Candolim, have demanded that the village panchayats of Calangute, Candolim, Arpora-Nagoa and Parra should be allowed to prepare their development plans with the assistance provided by the Town and Country Planning (TCP) department.
“The draft ODP for Calangute-Candolim 2025 was bulldozed upon the people and we have to bear the ill effects of this ill-conceived ODP,” Mathias said,
Speaking further Roshan said that, certain survey numbers mentioned in Column No 4 of the Notified Schedule were tenanted agricultural fields owned by comunidade and private owners that have been reverted to settlement in the Regional Plan 2021.
“As per law, tenanted agricultural fields cannot be put to use for any other purpose other than agriculture and therefore they have to be corrected in the ODP 2025,” he said. He also pointed out that Commercial Zones with C2 and C3 as marked in ODP 2025 were reverted to regular settlement zones of RP 2021 which appear to have been made in absolute ignorance.
“Huge structures already exist in these properties and they are functioning commercially since some time now what is also shocking is that the list of survey numbers shortlisted by the said committee in this category includes a fully functional hospital in the village,” they said.
Another local further said that the committee accepted that there were many illicit conversions done in the ODP 2025 but surprisingly none have been addressed in the notification which includes properties within the NDZ of CRZ.
“An ODP would have ideally been designed to plan an area in a more fruitful micro level manner. But on the contrary, it has been benefitted the builder lobby,” mathias further said