Three months after it fired its first salvo from a public meeting at Margao’s Lohia Maidan, Goencho Avaaz has let out another volley, this time from Vasco, in its battle to save the land, rivers and even the air of Goa. If at Margao, on a warm summer evening, Goencho Avaaz had focused on the Regional Plan and exposed the deals of politicians in land conversion, it did so again in Vasco under cloudy skies and intermittent raindrops, and went further as it took up other broad issues like the Planning and Development Authorities, the transportation of coal, the river nationalisation conundrum, fish preserved in formalin and the proposed tourism project at Kesarval as a specific project.
Almost every contentious issue that has come up in Goa in recent months was taken up at Sunday’s meeting, which indicates that Goencho Avaaz used the interim period between its two public encounters to research the land use plans and gather documents of various projects to point out how these will affect the State. It was not mere statements from activists, but Goencho Avaaz exposed the lands deals of some politicians through power point presentations, bringing to the people gathered for the meeting not mere allegations, but statements substantiated by documents, making it difficult for the politicos in question to worm their way out.
That the rain didn’t stop people from venturing out of their houses and making their way to the meeting, indicates that the concern for the land we live on, the water we drink and sail on and the air we breathe exists, and is growing. The attempt to convert land use and the massacre of the trees in the State is not going unnoticed. The bid to use the rivers for transportation has now been planted in people’s minds, the pollution in the air due to coal and ore transportation is also a worry that the people have been made aware of.
What next for Goencho Avaaz? This is the question that arises after its two well-attended public meetings. Does it restrict itself to creating awareness among the people, and raising its demands and keeping the pressure on the government or does it take further steps, such as legally challenging some of the decisions of the government that it is opposing. Going by the exposés at the meetings, the group possibly has the ammunition to take a few more shots at the government and politicians, perhaps even enough evidence to place before a Court and seek directions to the government. Will it do so and get a quick resolution to the ills plaguing the State, or will there be a protracted verbal battle on the streets of the State?
Goencho Avaaz, which translates to the voice of Goa, has spoken – loudly and clearly – again. It has collected the opinion of the people from across villages and towns and made it public. Will the government listen to this voice that is shouting itself hoarse, or will it wait for some directions from the court?
Past experience indicates that public opinion on issues has not led to changes in government policies, unless there is a political will or compulsion to make amends. Among the issues that have been brought up by Goencho Avaaz are those that the government has consistently defended, and so is unlikely to easily bow down to the people’s wishes. If it is to see success, Goencho Avaaz needs to look beyond meetings and awareness creation.
