Leaders and sarpanchs of gaothans and koliwadas held a joint meeting in Kurla to discuss the future development of gaothans and koliwadas and synergise to get solutions to the problems they have been facing.
The members at the meeting discussed various issues including, decisions of government for the gaothans, public interest litigation (PIL) regarding superimposing of gaothan boundaries and extensions, discussing the draft of development control promotion regulation, Cluster Development Scheme (CDS) and issue of floor space index (FSI).
Councillor, H-East Tulip Miranda , who was present at the meeting, said, “A draft has been formulated to cater to the needs of the gaothans which have been facing discrimination. The landowners were neglected and their land was taken away from them. Even their funding has been reduced from Rs 25 lakhs to Rs 10 lakhs by the government. This is injustice with the land owners will not be tolerated, we will revolt against this.” “Different gaothans face different issues, which need to be addressed on priority. We will try and get representation from the goathans in the next BMC elections,” she added.
Trustee of Watchdog Foundation, Godfrey Pimenta, said “There is no political representation from the gaothans in the BMC. We are planning to have our own candidates. We have also filed a PIL to ensure these houses are not considered as slums and their existence is not wiped out,” he added.
