For the last several years, Goa has been witnessing flawed, directionless, corrupt and destructive administration, with systematic decimation of our values, identity, ecology and environment, which, in not a very distant future, may prove disastrous to our State and population. The proof that the Government of the day is acting hastily and without proper application of mind, lies in many decisions of the Courts vindicating people’s stand on various issues and confirming the thoughtless process of development, aimed at either pleasing some magnates or making quick money, ignoring illegalities involved.
Development and improvements, especially in infrastructure, might entail some destruction. Cutting of hills, felling of trees, filling of low-lying areas, etc are sometimes, inevitable, if we want broader roads and some necessary projects. However, proper planning is needed and possible alternatives need to be considered and tried, to avoid much damage especially to the environment, at a time when the climate change is already hitting us very badly.
A writer recently mentioned that Goa’s beauty is turning into a curse for the locals. Everyone eyes a piece of our land. Goa’s beauty, serenity, the hospitality, charm, docility and culture of its people attract money bags from the rest of India, some of whom, in fact, destroy the very purpose why they chose Goa. Who wants Goa if its tranquility, its beaches, hills and greenery are lost, if it is congested and air polluted? Tourism, which is our main-stay, is already grappling with a severe fall in tourist inflow. And, for all our eternal shame, all this is happening with active patronage and connivance of our own degenerate and greedy elected representatives. For them, money and not Goa is the only concern. Land in Goa has turned into a gold mine and a golden opportunity for our politicians to amass ill-gotten wealth, through conversions facilitated by amendments to TCP Act.
For how long are people to shout on the streets and we to write repeatedly on same issues, pleading not to destroy our beautiful Goa? Though my caution will never be heeded to, let me warn our rulers that they are inviting and earning the curses of our children, youth and those yet to be born, for they are the ones who will bear the brunt of this destruction.
I had the privilege of attending part of the HC proceedings on Siolim tree felling case and watched the apparent disgust of the Hon Judges. In fact, be it in Tiger Reserve, Tanmar project, felling of trees, TCP 16B amendment, destruction of hills and in umpteen other cases, it is the Courts which have come to our rescue. Sadly, it is an expensive and time and patience consuming recourse and our only hope is that the Courts will eventually come down heavily on and personally penalize politicians and bureaucrats for their involvement and dereliction of duties, which constrain people to undergo heavy expenditure and waste Courts’ precious time. This could serve as deterrent for acts of omission and commission by politicians and bureaucrats. Goa is perhaps one of the few places in the world, where people need to take the Government to task for illegalities, instead of being the other way round. Are our rulers so thick-skinned that they are putting the people and the Courts to test?
Some decades back, during Congress rule, a single building with 1.5 FAR was allowed, somewhere near the Stadium in Margao, where the FAR was 0.80. I wondered how and whether this was not a clear case of open corruption. Perhaps, there were many such other cases elsewhere.
But far from things improving, a controversial Sec 39A has now been added to the TCP Act, to replace the infamous 16B, which allowed conversions on “case to case basis” (better known to us as suitcase to suitcase basis). An interim order was passed by High Court stopping grant of final approvals. But, 39A is in addition to Sec 17 (2), which empowers Chief Town Planner to make changes to RP 2021, in the guise of correcting errors, without any public consultation.
The new amendment, which permits zone changes to RP and ODPs, has elicited opposition and protests from civil society against the fresh legal avenues for corruption by the inventors of electoral bonds, the ones who said “Ne khaunga, ne khane dunga”, keep saying that they will open every locker containing graft and claim to be the sole crusaders against corruption.
Parrikar, during his own rule, had said that not a single staff would remain in TCP Dept if he had to take action against them. So, he tolerated them, despite his promise of “zero tolerance to corruption”. The TCP is the most lucrative Ministry and hence the most sought after exactly because the amendments to TCP Act give him and departmental staff ample powers to change zones at will, obviously after money is paid under the table. I recall that some years back, Rs 7 lakhs were demanded from a Bank for occupancy certificate.
Objections to 39A by hundreds of citizens indicate that beneficiaries of zone changes under 16B & 17(2) are large real estate parties, who were allowed 52% “correction” of eco-sensitive land to settlement with further 42% in favour of Directors of real estate firms. They complained that, for obvious reasons, TCP has stopped mentioning names of applicants in Gazette and TCP Minister is preventing perusal of files under RTI, So much for the so-called transparency of Goa Government.
Citizens observe that around 25% of constructed residences are unoccupied and these mostly comprise speculative investments and second homes, resulting in artificially inflating the cost of housing for locals.
In 2005, Mrs. Raghuraman, Secretary TCP made a file noting that frequent changes of land use led to “haphazard development and mushrooming of concrete structures with scant regard to planning and land use” and proposed a conscious effort to stop ad-hoc changes. Then CS Kiran Dhingra endorsing this view, denounced relaxations granted which were not well founded in law and caused unwanted changes in RP. Soon thereafter, during President’s Rule, applications for change in land use were stopped.
If Goa’s further destruction and concretization has to stop, suspicious amendments, which lead to arbitrary decisions, corruption and bribery, must be objected tooth and nail.
(The author is a retired banker)