From industries to bridges, mega projects to widening of
roads and pipelines, it sometimes seems that everywhere you look, some group in
Goa is rallying against something.
What is behind this
new opposition-ism? Goans social values,
and their evolution over the past few decades, tell an important part of the
story.
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Social values are the deep-seated beliefs and orientations
that underline our opinions on the issues of the day.
While at one time many Goans would conform to the
expectations of authority figures, and follow the customs and demands of
institutions and ideologies, these days they are increasingly unwilling, or
uncomfortable, deferring to authority and instead are interested in making
their own choices onwhat they want.
The people want
development – they want motorable roads, uninterrupted water and power supply –
what they don’t want is an abrupt change in their lives wrought about by a project
that they are unlikely to ever benefit from.
Goans do not generally accept the notion that pollution is
inevitable, or acceptable, in an industrial society.
Second, Goans do not tend to hold the belief that
environmental damage is an acceptable price to pay for economic growth.
Third, Goans, by and large, tend to see environmental
activists as reasonable people who have Goan interest at heart , rather than
extremists out to take away livelihoods
While this combination of values sounds pretty daunting for
those wanting to move forward with infrastructure or other developments, there
are ways to ensure that these projects are aligned with the community’s values
and expectations.
While the agitation against the casinos and many a mega
projects besides polluting industries is understandable the recent agitation
which led to shifting of the plans to set up Indian Institute of Technology
(IIT) at Loliem is highly debatable.
This is not the first
time that a project or projects proposed by the government have been deposed by
the people. In the past decades, especially since the early 1980s, very few
projects proposed by the government have met with the approval of the people.
Some have been bulldozed through despite opposition and others have been
scratched from the planning board after some long and bitter agitations.
The Nylon 6,6 project and the Special Economic Zones are
examples of the latter.
Against this background of agitations, it would have been
smart on the part of the government to first take into confidence the people on
any project and then give its approval for the venture, rather than push
forward its plans and agendas without knowing the mind of the people.
This would portray that the government was sensitive to the
wishes and opinions of the people and that this was a government that would act
positively only on such projects that met with the approval of the affected
people.
But this is just not happening in Goa. At regular intervals
the government will propose a project that the people will oppose and then the
fight begins.
While the IIT at Loliem is a justified project, it is
nowbeing moved to Ponda, because all stakeholders were not taken into confidence
at the project clearing stage.
