Sometimes Assembly elections are the fruits of hard labour. At other times it’s a fruit which undermines a lot of hard labour. For instance apple prices determine who wins the Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh. In Goa, a tree can be just as effective, even if you now don’t call it one.
Like the apple, the decision to declassify the coconut as a tree, will begin to hit the BJP politically in a manner it has not yet fathomed. Elections are won or lost on sentiments. The decision on removing the coconut from a classification of tree cannot be explained by the BJP, on the ground that this will help coconut farmers and coconut businessmen. In its defence, the ruling party states that its government’s decision is justified because there was no great rush to cut coconut trees when it was not originally in the list under the Tree Preservation Act.
The ruling party is quite literally missing the wood for the trees here. The Goa of 2001 to 2008 (and of course before 2001) is not the same Goa of 2016. In the turn of the century, the coconut tree did not need any classifications or had to be boxed into any definitions.
The simple bottom line was that people did not cut coconut trees. As far as the danger of falling coconuts is concerned, there are enough powers in the hands of the district collector to allow for the felling and removal of dangerous trees. This amendment will give no additional benefit to farmers. At the same time Goa had not faced the onslaught of builders and eco tourism mouthing project
proponents.
What is more significant is the fact that the ultimate beneficiaries of this decision will be those who are neither farmers, nor coconut businessmen. Those who will benefit are those who want to build huge housing estates and hotels and establish breweries and beer factories.
Let us not lose sight of the fact that this legislation is meant for those who need very large swathes of land for their projects. The government needs land for connectivity to the Mopa airport, for which thousands of coconut trees need to be felled. For the Tiracol Golf Course and Villa project to come up, large chunks of cashew plantations will be have to be cut.
Similarly, there’s no reason to believe that other species of fruit trees or cash crop trees will be spared, when the Environment and Forest Minister Rajendra Arlekar speaks like the Industry minister and laments that increasing forest cover will affect industrial growth.
Political parties often get caught up so much with the big things, that simple issues which strike a chord with the people of Goa, become the last straw which breaks the back of a political party. In 2012, the Congress was discarded because of its family raj culture and unbridled corruption. In 2017, what the MoI, Mopa (for South Goa) and Regional Plan could not do for the opposition, the humble coconut might just. The emotive pitch that this is the last nail in Goa’s eco coffin when the State’s basic identity is being threatened, can seriously undermine the BJP’s strongest pitch – it’s welfare schemes.
