Despite Goa being the smallest among the three States in this jurisdiction – smaller in size than some districts of Maharashtra and Gujarat – 45 percent of the cases filed in this bench are from this State. That is something to be proud of and also worried about at the same time. Proud, because it means that Goa is conscious of its environment and wants to protect it, and worrisome because it indicates that there is a concerted onslaught against the environment, which required intervention from the tribunal for its protection.
There are two points that the President of National Green Tribunal Bar Association made in Goa that are absolutely accurate. One is that the lack of political will has led to environmental degradation in the country. The other is that successive governments have failed to protect the environment or maintain a balance between environment and development.
Truly, if the country and the world are facing environmental degradation, then it is solely for political reasons, as politicians do have vested interests in ensuring that particular projects are accommodated, even if the projects would be harmful to the environment. The President of the NGT Bar Association was also right when he said that the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests (MoEF) has been granting clearances to mega projects that are against the interests the environment. There is no need to go beyond the borders of Goa to find instances to defend this statement, there are too many right in our own State that can be listed. Take for instance the Tiracol Golf Course and Villa project. The government has gone out of the way to promote it, to the extent of setting aside a report from an inquiry it had ordered, only because the project proponent alleged that the officer commissioned to inquire may be biased. The Vani Agro project in Sanguem that has been pushed through despite protests from the local residents is another example, the proposed tourism project at Chapora yet another.
When State agencies, led by politicians, conspire to act against the environment the only weapon to fight this combination is people power. Goa, through its NGOs, has shown that politically-backed projects can be blocked and those detrimental to the environment be even scrapped. Goa has a history of victories in this area, yet the threats to the environment do not stop, instead they increase in frequency and in strength. This happens when a government does not prioritise environment protection.
Another statement that the NGT Bar Association president made is that after Jairam Ramesh, India never had a good minister to lead and guide the Environment ministry. This is pertinent to Goa, for when he was the MoEF minister, Ramesh had written to the State government to begin the process to declare Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary a tiger reserve. The State is still to act on this letter from the then minister despite wildlife census reports indicating that the tiger does live in the forests of the Western Ghats in Goa and is not merely a visitor. Here is an instance when an Union Minister wanted to do something positive to the environment and forests of Goa but his good intentions have been stymied by inaction on the part of the State government.
The State is too small in area to withstand any great onslaught on its fragile environment. Goans have to join hands to defeat the politician-industry forces that threaten this delicate balance that nature has bestowed it. As the NGT Bar Association President says, there is no political will to take up the cause, the will and the actions have to come from the people.
