SATURDAY, MAY 18, 2024
Team Herald
PANJIM: The State has been rocked by anguished people’s agitations against the three linear projects. After raising so much heat and dust will these projects have a major impact on the results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Goa? Besides, issues such as expansion of the national highway at Bhoma and other places have caused extreme distress to people of the State. Will these issues play out in favour or against particular political parties?
Speaking to O Heraldo on issues that rocked the State and their repercussions on the 2024 Lok Sabha election in Goa, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor came down heavily on the ruling dispensation saying, “You can’t have barbarism in the name of development.”
Dissecting the impact of these issues, Tharoor pointed out, “See all these three projects are really being seen negatively by the public on a number of grounds. There are those who are concerned about the fact that Goa doesn’t benefit from 90% of what’s going through these lines. Why should Goa have to bear the burden? There are those who are concerned about the ecological and environmental devastation that involved the chopping down of trees and that forests are going to be depleted. It’s interesting enough that the Supreme Court has withdrawn the National Wildlife Board’s clearance, so why are they going ahead, is difficult to understand. Then there are those who are concerned about the damage being done to heritage homes and people’s property.”
Talking specifically about the double tracking project and its repercussions, Tharoor said it is going to hurt the people, more than benefit them. “The proposed route lies right through people’s homes and courtyards, and in some cases, their verandas. These are very serious issues. You can’t have barbarism in the name of development. Who is the development for? Development is for the people. But this is not going to benefit the people. It is going to hurt the people and it’s gonna benefit a very, very small elite who have an agenda of their own.”
Orchestrating the Congress commitment on these issues, Tharoor elucidated, “Let me just say very bluntly on this one, we stand with the people. We’ve been saying this from the beginning. I said it during the Assembly elections here, and now that the Supreme Court has also weighed in very heavily, I have no doubt that our candidates will pledge to oppose these issue nationally as well.”
Tharoor insisted that the coal needs of Karnataka industries should be taken care of by laying a railway track through Karnataka itself. “I’ve got a very interesting briefing from a former MLA Alina Saldanha who came and saw me yesterday with all the documents and the court judgement. I’ve been reading them yesterday. The matter is open and shut. You can actually get a track from a port to Bellary. You do not need to go through Goa, this wonderful State, against the wishes of its people, damage the ecology of the Western Ghats which is so fragile. I come from Kerala and we have very comparable issues. You cannot do so much damage to heritage and to people’s interests when you actually have a simple solution somewhere else and where your existing line is not operating to capacity,” Tharoor insisted.
