June 5, we celebrate as the “World Environment Day”. If we go by previous “Environment Day” celebrations carried out in Goa, we would find the Development of Environment Government of Goa, involving itself in a popular lecture delivered to the staff and guests on the list, who are regularly called upon for the program. Although the ceremony is open for the general public, there is hardly any sort of enthusiastic public participation and deliberations. Thus, the day passes of, as yet another day gone by with the true and vital message of the need to protect our deteriorating environment just blowing over our society’s concern and interest.
We would also see the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) too having in-house function, wherein the corporate sectors, involved with the state pollution control board, would be called upon for an interactive sessions, and by evening of June 5, the officials of the polluting industries, would be back in the business of discharging toxic effluents into our water bodies, dumping toxic hazardous industrial wastes into our forests or openly belching and bellowing toxic carbon mono-oxides into our atmosphere. All said and done the GSPCB would have this annual symbolic ritual to report on, in its annual report. The Goa government officials, would be satisfied that the expenditure incurred on the Environment Day ritualism, would not emerge as a controversy, as the program is considered as a public awareness and empowerment activity. However, we in Goa, would continue to see the challenging issues of Goa’s degradation growing precariously, whilst most of the Goans affording, either offering a Nelson’s eye or a deaf ears to decay of Goa we see all around us. The United Nations in 1974, decided to mark June 5 and dedicated it to the Health of the Environment all round the world.
It was extremely interesting to note that at the first summit held at Stockholm, in Sweden Olaf Palme, the Prime Minister of Sweden was up in arms against the industrial pollution of Germany, which was causing acid rains in Sweden. These rains, were not only destroying the ever green forests of the Scandinavian countries but the high acidity due to the low pH, caused by carbon acid, sulphurous acids and the oxides of nitrogen killed fish in the ponds and lakes and even defaced the precious monuments.
We must realise that air and water, especially in Europe, as anywhere in the world has no boundaries phenomena, restricted to the region, State or a country, where the pollutant is generated but the damage is a transcontinental problem across nations and a serious global issue. However, at the first world summit our late Prime Minister stole the show by first declaring that the foremost amongst the pollutants was poverty and that the rich nations must contribute in large measure to see that filth generated out of poverty is also the problem of the developed countries.
Gandhiji had said that there is enough in the world for man’s need but there isn’t enough for the man’s greed. Sadly, we in India in general and in Goa particularly have allowed the greed of the rich to override the basic needs of the poor and hapless common Goenkar. Look at the stark and naked realities of Goa. We have few mine owners who had illegally extracted, over the years, over one thousand million tonnes of iron ore. This has destroyed agriculture, polluted our water bodies with pollutants and also allowed respiratory infections to aggravate due to dust and particulate matter.
Firstly by mining the Aquifers in the hinterland of Goa, secondly in the Coastal Goa we have also concretised the surface in the garb of tourism.
We fool the tourists into believing that Goa is a paradise on Earth. Of course Goa once was two decades ago and before. Look at Panjim, in itself being small and decorated with beautiful churches, chapels, mosques, temples, heritage buildings, hill slopes, creeks, back waters and most importantly a life generating river Mandovi, it has everything which Mother Nature can provide to make Panjim as a world Heritage Destination to case Goa and Goans as a salubrious Environmental Destination.
It is no surprise though, Panjim which has the potential to be amongst the first 10 cities in India is today relegated to a position of beyond 300. Our creeks are today the sewage drains. Our mangroves are used to dump garbage. The mangroves at Patto are transformed as garbage sorting centres. The entire central Panjim is an open urination and defecation zone with casino revellers, tourists, traders and cruise boat guests, easing themselves at will. The parks and gardens have shrunk as almost all the buildings in Panjim have used the parking space for cars as a garbage generating commercial complex.
The municipal engineers and corporation officials have made big bucks by revising plans to the detriment of Panjim. Thus the destruction of the capital has today moved on beyond the hope of repairs. Today, haphazard unviable growth of tourism is damaging the economy of the State and health of the people of Goa. As such central Panjim is totally suffocated with cars parked even in “No Parking Area”. Traffic police blame the City Corporation of Panaji (CCP) for not lifting the vehicles. There is traffic chaos, garbage woes, and NGT orders that each commercial unit must treat its own wastes. Nobody bothers how the 450 seated convention hall, the parking facilities, garbage treatment, the sewage and the destruction to Goan environment have long forgotten the need for Healthy River is essential for a vibrant civilization Goans are heading to becoming a “Lost Civilisation”.
(The writer is a retired University Professor and an Environmental activist)
