The Parsekar government has made the simple act of asking all the casino operators to move out of Goa’s waters, looks like a game of chance. On Thursday, some apparently positive signals were given which seemed to be in the direction of moving them out of the Mandovi, but the mirage soon became a reality. The intention never really was to move them out of Goa’s waters but merely shift a problem and park it somewhere else and that somewhere will be in the waters off another village in Goa.
The Chief Minister and the government are hoodwinking the people of Goa into believing that casinos would be out of the way. It is also- seemingly- a betrayal of former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s firm commitment that casinos would move of Goa’s waters before the BJP’s term was over. We say seemingly, because Mr Parrikar, when he left, had a mountain of unfulfilled promises, which the new Chief Minister had made no attempt to complete. However the now Defence Minister has been virtually micro managing the government during his weekend trips and has not intervened on critical issues like the Regional Plan or the Casino movements, areas where his successor has taken contradictory stands.
His constituents in Panjim are aghast that the same Manohar Parrikar who had agitated with them in front of casinos and had even threatened to storm them, if they did not stop their operations or move out of Goa, has been a silent spectator, to his successor Mr Parsekar, sailing on the same boat with casino operators, who have, we dare say, funded many a party election, in many ways.
While the licenses of all four operators will be over by the end of December in phases, after which they will supposedly not be allowed to operate on the Mandovi, there is no guarantee that one of the shortlisted spots where they will be shifted will be ready. Look at the potential spots- Rivers Chapora and the Aguada Bay in the North and somewhere on the Zuari and the Sal rivers in the South. Apart from the almost definite agitation that they will face from locals there, it is near impossible to have casinos operating with full-fledged jetties in six months.
The National Water Quality Monitoring Programme (NWQMP) report for the year 2014-15, released by the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has concluded that almost every spot on the Mandovi and Zuari are contaminated with 80 to 90 percent of coliform content. But almost every river has been contaminated with untreated sewage. River levels have also risen with the amount of sewage and other forms of contaminated material plus high levels of silt. Dredging the river at the chosen spot will take a minimum of five months after work is allocated. And we are at least a month away from that basic step. The government is speaking of a feasibility study being conducted to identify the final spot, post which a plan to clean and dredge the area will be drawn up.
Some serious questions need to be asked. When Mr Parrikar categorically stated that the BJP government would move casinos out of Goa’s waters, why is a study being conducted to pick a spot on Goa’s waters? Secondly, the government needs to tell the people of Goa, who will pay for the dredging of the river for the Casino vessels to park. If the government is even thinking of footing this bill, it needs to ask the people who pay taxes. Is our money available when the state is reeling under a financial crunch where borrowings and central largesse is prayed for to survive and fund welfare schemes? If the casino operators attempt a time tested and failed spin that it is their money which runs the government, they need to be told that the amount of money which they pay as taxes on what their declared income is, needs to be weighed against their actual earnings, to be determined by a fool proof mechanism and a regulatory body. Under the guise of supporting the economy, the government has allowed the casino lobby to function without regulation for years and from gate collections to paying other taxes, there is a serious possibility of under valuation. This needs to be examined and revealed.
As far as the dredging goes, it needs to be done because our rivers are polluted and not because casino vessels have to be parked. Casinos should move out of Goa’s waters, even if they agree to pay for the dredging, which they have clearly not. The argument of allowing casinos to function in Goa because of their contribution to the economy is wearing thin because in the absence of checks and regulatory mechanisms, amounts which the government gets is a pittance compared to what should accrue to the state from the casino business.
So the short conclusion here is that they should go out of Goa’s waters, not just from the Mandovi. And not a single license should be renewed unless this is done and regulatory mechanisms are put in place. This gambling has gone on for far too long.
