It is a no brainer to say that people come to the State because ‘Goa is Goa’. Not because it is Dubai or Singapore. Once you destroy the idyllic Goa and its traditional lifestyle and culture, no decent tourists will come to Goa. Already from 2000 onwards large number of refined international tourists, especially good and well-mannered British and European tourists (the likes Goa should aspire for as a tourist destination) who were among the largest international tourists to frequent Goa, have stopped coming.
So the government, stakeholders and the people have to individually and collectively ponder what is unique about Goa. Why do tourists flock to Goa? Is it the natural beauty and the beaches? Is it the cheap liquor, since there are strict rules or prohibition on public drinking in other States? Is it because there are clubs which play loud music through the night, and there is gambling and drugs available? Is it because Bollywood celebrities and Delhi moneybags have made their second homes or they holiday in Goa? Or is it because there are simply no rules, and Goa is seen as a soft state with no law enforcement (except for the nagging traffic police)?
If it is just the beaches and nature, than South Maharashtra and North Karnataka have better waterfalls, and cleaner and uncrowded white sand beaches. Food and hotels are cheaper. Mumbai, Delhi and Pune have better party zones, but the rules are strict.
Traditionally, ‘Quality tourists’ have been coming to Goa because Goa is small, with God-given satiating terrain laced with rolling green hills, golden paddy fields and serene lakes, waving palms, white sandy beaches and azure waters. Goa has its exceptionally unique lifestyle and unique vibrant culture. Most of all, Goa has harmonious inter-community relations, due to strict law enforcement by the colonial power, the enforcement of the Common Civil Code and above all the core goodness and camaraderie of Goans themselves. Added to this, while there is caste and communal violence in various parts of the country, Goa is quiet and peaceful.
Large parts of Goa have a village ambience. Goa has unique hinterland. Goa has unique history and historical monuments and much more, which cannot be captured in words. In short, Goa is a ‘state of mind’.
Quality tourists come to Goa for all the above reasons, while the boorish tourists come to Goa for all the wrong reasons cited previously. Policy makers and stakeholders should not ape the disastrous development executed in other States, by aping the Gujarat or any other model. Don’t destroy this small State with big projects that benefit non-Goan moneybags. Don’t disturb the quiet and peace of the benign and warm middle class and lower middle class, the contented people of Goa. Development is not infrastructure development, it means human development.
Don’t dangle carrots of money and jobs in front of naïve clean-hearted Goan villagers in return for their land. Often the compensation is either not paid or disappears in a jiffy, pushing them into penury, because now they don’t have a land and livelihood, while property speculators have a field day selling the land for crores of rupees, as in the case of the Mopa model.
Goa is small, so the scale of development has to be small, non-polluting, eco-friendly and based on scientific carrying capacity of Goa, in tune with the wishes, culture and skill sets of Goans. We cannot afford to have mega industrial, housing or luxury hotel projects. Have studies been done on the kinds and number of industrial projects suitable for Goa; kinds and number of hotel projects for Goa; number of housing projects for each town or village according to its carrying capacity; study of the water resources of Goa; and infrastructure needs of Goa for the next 50 years? What are the departments doing, other than giving random permissions for projects and destroying Goa haphazardly?
The wisdom of the powers-that-be should be not to kill the proverbial goose that lays the golden egg. Already tourists are shifting to other competitive destinations such as Maldives, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand among others.
If you destroy Goa and its traditional lifestyle with mega projects, you destroy quality tourism and you will destroy the unique language, culture and identity of Goa, which has survived through several invasions and wars. You will attempt what the mergerists tried to do between 1961 and 1967, till the Opinion Poll decided the issue. Protecting Goa’s identity is a daily battle. Preserve Goa for the future generations just as our ancestors did. Only then can ‘Goa’ survive!
