As if many of the promises made by the Goa BJP in 2012 which have turned out to be huge castles in the air, were not enough, the Union Highways Minister, Nitin Gadkari decided to symbolise with it with another one – a tower higher than the Eiffel tower on the new Zuari bridge – a bridge so tall with a viewing tower to offer a bird’s eye view of the entire Goan landscape. Mr Gadkari’s ministry would pay, of course – a few hundred crores for this tower in the sky.
If there was a race for absolutely warped priorities, this would easily win it. The state is living on borrowings to pay salaries, mining- affected people are still paying off their mining loans and mining truck owners are on the streets battling more for transportation of their ore. If a cash injection from the centre is needed it is for these priorities. In any case the mining sector has long demanded a greater share from the centre in lieu of the taxes the state generated during the mining boom. Moreover if Gadkari has indeed decided to loosen his purse strings for a an Eiffel-type tower on the new Zuari bridge, then why couldn’t Mr Gadkari ensure that the funds promised for the Mandovi bridge and later not given, by the centre are provided, so that Goa isn’t burdened with a Rs 570 crore loan from the NABARD? On one hand he has promised a tower like the Eiffel and is ready to release funds while Goa will struggle to pay off a Rs 570 crores loan from NABARD, from the tax payers money.
A new Zuari bridge is indeed non- negotiable. But as far as the Mandovi bridge is concerned, there was no urgency to build it if the funds from the centre were not available. So what do we make of Mr Gadkari’s promise on Mr Parrikar’s birthday. It was typical of a Delhi raja arriving and declaring that he would like to see an Eiffel tower type structure here because he couldn’t get round to doing something similar on the Bandra Worli Sealink, in Mumbai, because the BJP government fell in Maharashtra. So this was a clear case of a central minister, sulking because his fancy was not fulfilled in Maharashtra, now coming to Goa and wanting a similar tower to be built on the Zuari. Are these projects worth hundreds of crores playthings in he hands of ministers who can spend this kind of money? And if they do, then the state must decide on what its priorities are and clearly get back to the minister and tell him that a Eiffel tower clone, is not what Goa wants. Goa needs funds for basic infrastructure and if there is still more, then white elephants like the Mandovi bridge, which the state is struggling to finance, can be funded by central funds.
The government is on a bridge constructing spree. Apart from the Tiracol bridge, which is being built for the absolutely private objective of giving connectivity to the Leadings Hotels’ Golf Course and villa project (for which the government has borrowed heavily again), there are bridges connecting Shiroda and Rachol and Camurlim and Tuem underway. Financial management which also includes effective borrowing complemented with central funding, dictates that promises of central funding for infrastructure should first be used to subsidise or offset market borrowings. For instance getting hundreds of crores for a tower on the new Zuari bridge when Rs 570 crores have been borrowed for the new Mandovi bridge is absurd financial logic.
But then, informed financial decisions have never been the Goa governments priority or for that matter skill or most importantly, its will.
