GERARD DE SOUZA
gerard@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Moving away from the saturating sun, sea and sand tourism and capping of new establishments on the Baga-Nerul watershed are two of the many recommendations that the Goa Golden Jubilee Development Council has made to the government in its report that was recently submitted by its Chair Dr Ragunath Mashelkar.
The Council has recommended the cap since it observed that there are “far too many such establishments already existing in the Baga-Nerul watershed,” and there is a virtual saturation.
The Council has laid stress on the ‘sustainable production consumption systems’. In this connection it has also felt the need for a comprehensive solid waste management site in each district while recommending that villages where the integrated solid waste management sites are proposed be compensated by means of yearly financial incentives. It also calls for a constitution of a waste management authority under the Goa State Pollution Control Board.
Furthering its ambition to promote tourism and the State’s culture as opposed to just beach tourism in Goa, the Council has also recommended that the State organises a biennial world renowned major cultural festival, to highlight Goa’s unique historical trajectory and plural culture.
“Goa has extraordinary opportunity to bring the West and the East together. This could be a biennial event that the world will not want to miss,” the Council has recommended saying the event could focus on the literature, music, architecture, culture, and other aspects of Goa.
It has also called for setting up of a film and television institute to help local youth, opportunities in the field of filmmaking among other institutes, to promote culture.
In the field of health, the Council has noted that Goa does not have a single hospital with National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) Accreditation. “Having such a hospital will attract good doctors and will lead to an overall improvement in the quality of healthcare of the State.”
It also recommended that Goa needs two super speciality hospitals with the speciality treatments being divided between the two.