FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2024
Mhadei dealers
After the agents of Team Pramod Sawant bungling the imbroglio of the disputed Mhadei river diversion in favour of Karnataka in connivance with the Centre, the Goa government is engaged in damage control mode to assuage the agitated sentiments of the people of the state which has led to massive rallies across the state. Right now it is Karnataka holding the trump card of the approval of detailed project report (DPR) by Central Water Commission (CWC). It needs to be emphasised that both Karnataka and Goa are double engine governments of the Centre and in a game of one-upmanship CM Basavaraj Bomai prevailed over his Goa counterpart Sawant. There have been conflicting reports much before the release of DPR report of some ministers threatening to resign if the Mhadei river dispute was not in Goa’s favour who have now retreated to save their lucrative “kodel”. All said and done, the state of Goa will be losing 40 percent of drinking water, agricultural farms will be affected and biodiversity will take a back seat.
Even the greenfield Mopa Airport and surrounding Pernem areas will go dry which is a matter of grave concern.
Everette Assis Telles, Margao
The Mhadei conundrum
The Mhadei conundrum has sent all the BJP MLA's in a tizzy many of who are issuing contradictory statements to assure the aam aadmi, “bivpachi garaz na” and everything is fine. But we the people know that because Goa is a small state and Karnataka is going to have elections, the Delhi BJP leaders will do their best to placate the Goan BJP MLA's that all is well.
But as discussed by the leaders of the Save Goa Front who are fighting to protect Mhadei from being diverted, the best way to hold all the 40 MLA’s accountable is to meet and ask them to make their stand clear or to resign as demanded by Yuri Alemao the Leader of the Opposition. Can we do this to save GOA for our future generations? Only time will tell.
Matias Lobo, Tivim
Fun loving,
susegad state
Goa Tourism's tagline: “A perfect holiday destination” doesn’t resonate with tourist. The benchmark of a tagline is the element of “recall”, which is woefully lacking in Goa Tourism’s tagline. Think of Goa’s rival Kerala, and immediately ‘God’s Own Country’ comes to mind. Not so with Goa's tagline. Nobody knows it, not even Goans.
The problem with Goa Tourism is that it has to cater to 2 different markets viz., domestic and international. The domestic tourists are of 2 types. One half come to drink and generally paint the town red. These nuisance value tourists can safely be ignored from our preview. Unfortunately they will come, tagline or not. The other half of domestic tourists are genuine, decent tourists. They come to enjoy, consume a lot of food, generally very fast, make purchases and go sightseeing. They generally stay in 3 star hotels and resorts for average of 3-4 days. The international tourists stay on for a few weeks. They prefer a quiet and peaceful holiday with few days of sightseeing thrown in. But they like to laze in the sun for hours. Unlike domestic tourists they consume food and drink very slowly...for hours sometimes. They are generally laid back.
I believe the word susegad sits well with international tourists. The ‘fun’ element must be included in the tagline for domestic tourists. Hence my offering on Goa Tourism’s tagline is: ‘Fun loving, susegad state’.
The media must use susegad, a unique word, as often as possible so as to give currency to the word. The word generally conjures visions of, an easy going, relaxed and laid-back life. The word susegad has already gained wide currency through use by the Goan diaspora. Domestic tourists must be exposed to the word when they are in Goa so that they take home the essence of the word susegad. It should be our endeavor to popularize the word worldwide as it is the essence of Goa
Robert Castellino, Calangute/Mumbai
Zero tolerance
to hill cutting needed
With political blessings, we are witnessing rampant hill cutting and filling of low lying fields across Goa. All this is happening in alleged connivance with the various governmental authorities who are conveniently turning a Nelson’s eye to all these environmental violations.
In our own backyard at Ribandar, a huge hill cutting project has been going on in the fragile watershed of Mandovi River on a non permissible gradient behind the V2 Mall and Mercedes showroom on the Kadamba Road. A huge wall of metal sheets has been erected to deviously hide and conceal all this unlawful blasting activity being done on a very steep slope.
Experts foresee a massive ecological impact like sudden slope instability, subsidence of the fragile porous hillock now denuded of tree cover with so many trees brazenly felled. This slope not being a stable area and there being dense settlement below in Ribandar, landslides would be common, thus impacting and endangering houses down below in Ribandar.
It must be ensured that all those involved in hill cutting and land filling must be ruthlessly and severely punished in accordance with law. These culprits must be made to restore all the land to its original position. The land use violation with political patronage has been widespread on the Kadamba plateau and urgently needs investigation. It is time to say enough is enough to the ever so greedy and heartless land mafia who have been mercilessly uncaring about the environmental consequences of their misdeeds. They need to be named and shamed.
Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
Save the tiger
There were 2,967 Tigers in 2018 in India as compared to 2226 in 2014. An annual growth of 6 percent is fairly reasonable though the 2023 numbers are anxiously awaited. The government has told the Supreme Court that the good work of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has borne fruit. Be that as it may, tigers are solitary animals, and are known to trudge long distances. Therefore, invasion of human habitat is a foregone conclusion, and that is worrying because human-animal conflict is a major reason for killing of tigers apart from poaching and road accidents. “Survival of the fittest”, consequent to infighting over territorial domination, too, is one important reason why tigers die.
Safeguarding ecological sensitive areas, forest, water and grasslands cannot be overlooked anymore. One reassuring aspect amidst all this is the competitive spirit among states like Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka to save tigers and earn the “tiger
state” tag.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
