Goans have been in an agitated mood for a pretty long time, but not without reason. Their apprehensions and fears of Goa getting destroyed and Goans marginalised, are coming true faster than expected. They rejected the BJP recently, simply because they strongly disapproved of its model of development. Goans are permanently restless because their own fellow Goans are betraying them for the sake of positions or money and are succumbing to pressures from their bosses or masters in Delhi and rich industrialists to sell Goa or barter it for so-called development. Such behavior could only be expected from the scum of our society, to which unfortunately many of our politicians belong. Despite rejection by the people because of their flawed policies, BJP is bent upon pursuing them because of huge financial considerations involved, this time leaning on the crutches of individuals, whose record of greed and unscrupulousness is unmatched and who would be ever willing to oblige provide they have a share in the pie.
The latest among many detestable attempts at hurting Goans more and more, banking solely on their docile and gentlemanly nature, are the sustained and nefarious efforts to convert Goa into a deadly coal hub, importing it from Australia, Indonesia, etc and transporting it via road, rail and sea to Karnataka and elsewhere for power plants and steel industries. Steps in this direction will further affect our fishing community and deplete the fish catch for our consumption, besides creating health hazards as coal pollution is suspected to be one of the causes of lung cancer.
Incidentally, Adani’s 21.7 billion dollar Carmichael coal mine project in Queensland, Australia is being strongly opposed by several prominent Aussies. Claiming that the mine, besides endangering the fragile World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef, where 1.1 million cubic meters of spoil will be dredged and disposed of on land, will destroy endemic species of flora and fauna, impact the health, livelihoods and lives of local communities and the burnt coal would produce 4.6 billion tonnes of climate pollution increasing global warming, they requested Adani to abandon the project. “The Lancet”, one of world’s leading medical journals calls the mine a “public health disaster” and raises concerns about the impact the mine will have on groundwater resources and on nearby farmers who rely on this water for their livelihood.
Coal accounts for 2/3 of cargo presently handled at our Mormugao port. In 2012, when only 5 mn tonnes of coal were handled at the port, the High Court ordered the closure of two coal handling berths due to coal dust present in unhealthy levels in the air in Vasco.
Now, if the proposed project goes ahead, the handling will soon touch around 26 mn tonnes steel industries are poised for expansion and coal handling may see a phenomenal rise in another decade or so to about 51 mn tonnes a year. Involved in this highly detrimental exercise are Vedantas, Jindals (JSW) & Adanis. The Shipping Ministry & Road Transport are under Nitin Gadkari – a man we, Goans, need to beware of. He was humiliated by NGT when it quashed his autocratic “policy decision” to exempt the deepening of the port channel to 20 meters from mandatory public hearing and he even inaugurated it a month before clearance was given. The dredging of the port to allow bigger vessels will displace our fishing community and will also affect fish breeding and further disturb the busy fishing ground. The community became aware of this dredging only when Gadkari came to inaugurate it. His claims to having sanctioned Rs 1000 crores road projects in Goa are to link Mormugao to Karnataka with four-lane connectivity from Goa to beyond the Western Ghats. This was only to help his aforenamed friends and perhaps himself, but surely not us and was mainly meant for transportation of their coal.
Among the projects proposed, one was a highway which would connect NH-17B to NH-4A passing through more than five hectares of forest land. This was not part of Gadkari’s announcements. Respected environmentalist, Abhijit Prabhudesai contends that the road connects MPT to Belagavi 156 km away, but is split into different projects to escape environment clearance, which is exempted for roads under 100 km in length, He has petitioned the NGT to declare the three proposed highways as one project. “The government has concealed the fact that they want to take coal through Goa’s villages,” says Abhijit.
The rail route is presently heavily congested and double tracking would also be urgently required and perhaps implemented, which will again destroy habitations, fields, etc.
My fellow Goans need to be alert and cautious about the evil designs of the Central Government, which is treating Goans as guinea pigs and Goa as testing ground for their nefarious activities, unfortunately with the help of spineless elected representatives and stooge politicians. Will those who shout about Goenkarponn quit the cabinet if this project is imposed on us? This is a challenge to them which will put to test their sincerity, if any. Bringing in projects detrimental to our health solely to please their rich friends is the height of meanness and audacity, which need to be countered and fought tooth and nail.
While it was good to see over a thousand people gathered at Vasco last month for the EIA public hearing, now postponed for April 26, 27 and 28 because the venue could not accommodate the crowd, it is imperative that Goa now rises as one and many thousands demonstrate their strength on the very first day, to drive away these monsters ever keen to devour us.
(The author is a retired banker)
