After many promises made in public interest remaining unfulfilled and U-turns taken on various issues, like the casinos, recovery of mining loot, scrapping of Regional Plan, etc., making a mockery of the Goan electorate, the Government is bent in courting controversies over coconut trees, culling of monkeys, wild boar and even the beautiful peacock (this now dropped, being a national bird), creation of Investment Promotion Board which can bypass all laws, attempts at reducing forest cover and last but not the least the Bill to regularize illegal structures on Government, Communidade and even on private land, not being one’s own. The list of draconian steps this Government is taking, mostly against the interests of Goa and its people, is unending. Defexpo is the latest in the list.
The Defence Ministry organizes two defence shows: Aero India – a show of aerospace, defence, civil aviation, airport infrastructure, etc. and Defexpo – a show of land, naval systems, internal security and homeland security systems, etc., each every alternate year. Defexpo is scheduled for March this year and Aeroshow in 2017 and so on.
So far, Aero India was being held in Bengaluru and Defexpo at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. According to Defence Minister Pragati Maidan is “under major renovation” and “perhaps would not be available”, but its MD claims, in its website, that the venue can be ready and available at any time. As these spots became unviable due to congestion and other factors, our Defence Minister preyed once again on our scarce land and requested Parsekarji on 12/6/15 for “allotment of about 150 acres of coastline land, which can accommodate 10000 ft. runway” as permanent venue for aforementioned events. And Parsekar, ever so grateful to his master and perhaps apprehensive that his chair might otherwise be rocked, promptly nodded his head. GIDC, which had acquired approximately 8,83,000 sq.m. for development of Industrial Estate at Naqueri, Quitol, with promises of employment for locals and revenue for Panchayat, wasted no time in allotting 150 acres (approx. 600,000 sq.m) of this land for the purpose, on permanent basis. It must be noted very importantly that neither the people nor the Panchayat and not even the local MLA were taken into confidence in this exercise. On the contrary, the Gram Sabha of Naqueri opposed the move supported by neighbouring villages of Khola, Velim, Ambelim and Assolna while those of Fatorpa and Bali did not take any stand.
The requirement of runway of 10,000 ft. (approx 3 km) needs a width of more than 300m, as per ICAO standards, thus translating into 900,000 sq. m. for airstrip alone. Further, the land acquired is only 1.6 kms. in length. So where is the additional 1.4 kms. coming from, when no such land is available in the vicinity? Why do Parrikar and Parsekar verbally refer to a temporary 4 day affair, when all written records point to permanent venue? With a Government that has lost all trust of the people, one can only conclude that this is yet another excuse to open Goa’s prime coastal land to real estate, as rightly pointed out by Orixtt Porjecho Awaz. And with land given to defence forces the trust gets further eroded and one can safely forget of ever getting it back or promises fulfilled, as we have already experienced at Dabolim, Angediva and Panjim, where Siddharth Kunkolienkar is negotiating giving away more land in exchange for the one in Panjim, when such land in Bambolim was reportedly already given to the Army earlier.
And how stubborn the defence forces are, was made clear by Luizinho Faleiro when he pointed out that they would not even listen to A K Anthony when he was Defence Minister and sought some land for road widening in Shillong. Surely Parrikar is not unaware of the tantrums of Armed Forces. So does he have a hidden agenda of obliging them when he makes yet another U-turn on his earlier stand not to allot further Goan land to Central Govt. agencies? No reports are available on this project, including feasibility of the area, ecological, environmental or social impact assessments, etc.
The plateau is rich in bauxite and hence a good water catchment area and rich in biodiversity. The show has nothing to do with defence of the country and so Parsekar can well forget contemplating “sedition” charges against opponents. It is a weapons expo by India and other countries. It is a war exercise, with arms being sold which could eventually be used against us. So, why should Goa be forcibly be made a party to world conflicts, when according to M.D. Singh, Director of Defexpo Organization, a suave gentleman surely better trained in public relations than our beloved Chief Minister, Goa was chosen because it is a peace loving State? What Mr. Singh could not explain is why the site was changed to Naqueri from Mopa, contrary to his own Committee’s recommendations. Is Goans’ hospitality and docility being exploited? The Defence Ministry cannot perhaps afford to cancel the show, because of international participation. At the same time, or having another Nandigram in Goa. Since no arrangements are yet in place, the show could be held at Pragati Maidan. The fault for this showdown lies entirely with Goa Government for its failure in even having permissions, etc. in place and threatening the people for justifiably opposing the project.
(The author is a retired banker)
