Signboard against
mega projects
There is a growing resistance against mega housing projects coming up in the villages due to concerns of depletion of water resources, unreliable power supply and unsustainable land sales to outsiders. Against this background, a modest signboard put up by the gram sabha of Betalbatim village panchayat cautioning potential developers about purchasing land in the village has reportedly triggered a ripple effect across Salcete Taluka. The signboard mentions that the village has exhausted its resources and that the carrying capacity of the village has exceeded. The signboard has also cautioned that the builders, promoters and developers may buy land in their village at their own risk. Developers and land buyers are now transforming their once-quiet coastal locality into gated communities. Trees are being cut indiscriminately, and the environmental impact is devastating. Putting up such signboards is a novel way to keep land sharks at bay as the developers may not be aware of the ground reality. The signboard has drawn wide attention about unregulated development and its long-term impact on rural communities. There has been a sharp increase in mega construction projects, accompanied by a surge in the sale of land to outside investors. Local authorities and government bodies appear to have failed to take timely action in this regard. The signboard reflects a broader sentiment growing in many Goan villages. Other village panchayats too should follow suit. Hopefully this act of resistance will prompt authorities to take quick and meaningful action.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Strong retaliatory
action, really?
India suspending the Indus Water Treaty is being tom-tommed as a 'surgical water strike' by the partisan media and presented to the gullible public as strong retaliatory action against Pakistan for the Pahalgam massacre.It is pertinent to note that less than 8% of the water in the trans-Himalayan river which originates in the springs near Mount Kailash in Tibet comes from India. The waters flow through Ladakh and Pak administered Gilgit Baltistan before emptying out in the Arabian sea south of Karachi. It's main tributaries are the rivers Shyok, Kabul, Gilgit, Kurram and Gomal in non- Indian territory, infact the Indus river is just a glorified stream within India. It begins to take shape as a mighty river, fed by it's tributaries only from Baltistan onward. We also don't have the infrastructure or wherewithal to either store the surplus water or divert it elsewhere. Similarly India blocking 16 Pakistani YouTube channels (surgical internet strike?) is projected as a befitting reply to our wayward neighbour. It is another matter altogether that these channels can still be accessed by the tech savvy on the dark web. Instead of taking responsibility for their failure to protect innocent Indian citizens, the netas are only feeding us such inane narratives to remain in power, body count is the least of their worries.
We the people (who have already been blamed for not being patriotic enough by a cabinet mantri ) need to see the Machiavellian moves of our leaders through the prism of rationality and logic and not get swayed by jingoistic pseudo-nationalism.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
Weaponising
the truth
Congratulations to Padma Shri Libia Lobo Sardesai, hopefully this award will inspire another wave of freedom fighters to do what she did back in pre-liberation days. She used non conventional means to pierce through false narratives, and delivered truth to a people that were worn down by subjugation. On Salazar's orders, Goans were kept in the dark about the waning strength of their colonial masters, they were denied news that other colonies were successfully fighting back. Libia's radio bulletins, broadcast from beyond Goa's borders, gave Goans precious hope.
Goans today are distracted by ingenious red herrings and we are worn down by so many instances of criminal negligence that it almost seems legal. Today's Libbys would ideally sift through the white noise of news, and weaponise truth by using modern IT to create a website solely for Mai Goem's festering wounds, where concerned daughters and sons across the world could weigh in and provide insightful and cost effective solutions. Goa deserves well-being metrics, and defenseless future generations would be best served if civilians monitored neglected metrics like coastal erosion, river pollution, coal dust, youth unemployment, double tracking, land grabbing, Farmers' issues, khazans, corruption, EoDB, E-governance ranking, accountability, time bound services, #rosto, PWD, legislating Goa's own Future Generations Act, Goa: Vision 2035 and upgrading to Sustainable high-end tourism.
Thank you Libby.
Chris Fernandes, Miramar