On Goa Revolution Day, another revolution was in the making. Even as the official function commemorating the day was being held in Panjim, representatives of various organisations were making their way to Porvorim to protest the proposed rules. Representatives of 16 organisations fighting issues concerning the State,18 organisations doing battle at the village level and four individuals – a scientist, two HC lawyers and an agriculturist – gathered at Porvorim with their submission opposing the new draft Coastal Regulation Zone notification 2018. So, 34 organisations that have the people’s interests at heart, and four professionals collectively said no to the proposed CRZ rules on Revolution Day.
It is clear that the people of Goa are against the draft CRZ notification that will cause more harm than good to the coastal areas. Reducing the No Development Zone, has only received the approval of the Goa Tourism Development Corporation, and that could only mean one thing – permanent concrete structures on the sands of Goa. Is that what Goa and its people want? Obviously not.
The memorandum submitted states very clearly that the changes proposed are regressive and against public interest and that it violates the principles of legislation, logic and science. The demand is now loud and absolutely clear here. No change in the CRZ rules that would in any way be detrimental to the coastal environment. But will the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change listen to the voice of the people?
The fight of the State’s people to protect the environment is not new. It goes back decades, and the fact that the people still have to gather in numbers, converge on the streets, make representations to the authorities to be heard, indicates that this fight is far from over, and that all these years the pleas of the people have been falling on deaf ears. Recall the time when the demarcation of the High Tide Line allowed some companies to take their hotels onto the beaches and almost right to the water’s edge? The new rules may allow this to happen again, as it reduces the no development zone.
As per the draft that was released, its aim is to “conserve and protect the unique environment of coastal stretches and marine areas” and to promote “sustainable development based on scientific principles taking into account the dangers of natural hazards, sea level rise due to global warming”. But that’s something that experts and people involved with the environment don’t accept. Most believe that the draft rules will open the coastal areas to industry, in particular to tourism and real estate. The unanimous view is that the rules in the Draft CRZ Notification are not in favour of the environment, that a ministry which is meant to protect the environment has drafted a notification that dilutes the existing provisions.
The fight today is not just to keep concrete out of the sands of Goa, but to preserve the disappearing sand dunes that are being flattened. This destructive development that has gained currency in the State and country could get a legal sanction with the approval of the draft CRZ notification in its current form. The resolve of these organisations that have come together to save the already bludgeoned environment of the State proves that not everybody is numb to the assault on the environment that could well change the coast of Goa as we know it today.
