Edgar Ribeiro, the town planner who saw trees, pavements and people first

Panaji: Former chief town planner of India, Edgar Ribeiro, who was also instrumental in setting up Goa’s own town and country planning (TCP) department, passed away in Porvorim on Friday. He was 95.

Ribeiro was a member of the task force that prepared the Regional Plan (RP) of Goa, 2021, and had made a strong case for the need to update it.

“If someone were to ask me how a structure would stand out in its surroundings, I would ask, ‘But what about the trees, what about the pavements, what about the people around it?’ I was always keen on finding out how a building could fit into its surroundings rather than making the surroundings subservient to the building,” Ribeiro had told TOI during a previous interview at his ancestral home in North Goa’s Socorro.

The Pune-born Ribeiro — brother of ‘super cop’ Julio — studied architecture at Sir J J College of Architecture, Mumbai, in the 1950s. He subsequently headed to Manchester University in the UK to continue his studies in town planning.

Upon his return to India, Ribeiro was almost immediately assimilated into the nation’s town and country planning organisation (TCPO) as an associate planner. Incidentally, his first deputation was to his homeland, Goa, in 1964. The assignment was no cakewalk though, as he had to deal with the ire of a large section of the population that hadn’t fully accepted Indian govt assuming charge of Goa after liberation from the Portuguese regime.

Although his post was largely advisory in nature, Ribeiro played a pivotal role in setting up the TCP department for Goa under the leadership of its first chief minister, Dayanand Bandodkar.

During the course of his career, he was appointed as the first planning commissioner of the Delhi Development Authority. He was even handpicked by the Indira Gandhi-led central govt for an important exercise called, ‘The Redevelopment of New Delhi’.

Ribeiro’s steady rise through the ranks of the TCPO ultimately saw his superannuation as chief town planner to govt of India in 1988.

Following his retirement, he helped establish Goenkarancho Ekvott — a registered organisation of Goans living in Delhi. It was during one of the group’s meetings that the flaws in the RP for Goa were exposed. He subsequently joined the task force for the RP 2021 as a member and an advisor, but said that he chose to resign when the planning process began to go askew.

Padma Shri awardee and senior advocate, Norma Alvares, who represented Ribeiro in the challenge to the outline development plan for Panaji, which the Bombay high court eventually stayed, described him as being totally dedicated to his profession, always alert to the happenings in Goa despite his advanced age, and committed to the well-being and survival of the state and its residents.

“He was deeply pained at the way the TCP Act was being amended time and again to enable the destruction of the ecological features which he sought very hard to protect during the framing of RP 2021,” Alvares told TOI. “He was very particular that one should know the background of the provisions of the TCP Act to be able to defend them against the amendments now being enacted to enable development anywhere and everywhere,” she added.

Ribeiro is survived by his wife, a daughter and two sons. His funeral will be held at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Church, Socorro, at 4pm on Monday.