Goa to have 40 lakh new settlers in 25 yrs - Herald

Goa to have 40 lakh new settlers in 25 yrs April 12, 2013 Projections reveal most will settle in Panjim, Margao, Vasco; focus on infrastructure upgradation TEAM HERALD PANJIM: This report is unlikely to bring cheer to those who prefer the "small is beautiful" version of Goa. But recent issues flagged in the State merit a re-look at the 2011 Planning Commission’s Goa Development Report projections and growth plan for Goa. The GDR, authored by several academics/experts under the umbrella of the Institute for Change Research undertaken for the Planning Commission estimates 4 million (40 lakh) new settlers over the next 25 years. Ninety percent of these (or 36 lakh) are estimated to settle in the Panjim, Margao and Vasco areas. "We have to plan so we can accommodate these new people without adding to urban sprawl and without undermining existing communities”, the report states. In another section the GDR says "Given a 20-30 year perspective, Goa will need to support at least three million residents and 6-8 million visitors. To enable this to be sustainable, Goa will need to focus on upgrading and adding to infrastructure”, among them Mopa airport. Since liberation in 1961, Goa's urban population increased by 670 per cent, the report notes adding in the last decade itself, the population has grown by 40 per cent. The number of urban centres in Goa has quadrupled since 1961 it adds and 50 per cent of the State's population now live in 44 urban centres of the State. In its chapter on urbanization and growth nucleii post the infrastructural development of three growth centres, Panjim itself is projected as a State capital area, extending to 49 surrounding villages in Tiswadi, Bardez and Bicholim and including those further from its current suburbia ~ Navelim, Bicholim, Chorao, Nerul, Pilerne, Saligao, Bainguinim etc. "Naturally, this entire region needs to be looked upon as the State Capital Area and planned for accordingly. The entire area then should be governed by a common authority and its infrastructure planned and created through a common plan", the report stated. Visitors to the State, post Mopa international airport, are estimated to rise to 8 million "may be business visitors". Goa's aging population that is projected to increase given low birth rates and migration, "will not support Goan economy beyond 20 years", the report reveals. The greatest threat projected to Goa’s economic growth story ~ in the areas of tourism, export hubs and trade ~ is an "unwillingness to integrate with the global knowledge economy and create communal distinctions between Goan and non-Goan groups in the State", driving talent away and leading to economic decay, it states. http://www.heraldgoa.in/News/Main%20Page%20News/Goa-to-have-40-lakh-new-settlers-in-25-yrs/73117.html