Goa has been blessed in many ways -fairly good climate, good rains, beautiful beaches, lush green hills and fields, rivers and above all docile, hospitable and generally honest and good-hearted people. True, that the heat is unbearable, at times, particularly in April/May & October and the winter has nearly vanished. This could be partly due to climate change but surely also due to felling of trees, cutting of hills and destruction of forest cover, which are common occurrences, on some pretext or the other.
Restoration of hills and planting of trees, in terms of Court directives, are more on paper rather than in reality and only excessively high penalties can deter people from indulging in such illegalities. We often faced threats of cyclonic winds at abnormally high speeds, but they have thankfully passed off without hitting us hard. Except for some minor floods, particularly in Canacona, some years back, we have not experienced any major damages or many deaths due to natural calamities. Undoubtedly, God has been kind to us, but one cannot ignore the work of several NGOs and lovers of Goa, whose commendable work and persistence has possibly saved us from catastrophes, which some other States have witnessed due to unplanned development. Despite such unfortunate events, our government, to satisfy its own greed and servilely please Central leaders, risks our lives and wellbeing.
It is no secret that whatever happens in Goa not only has the support but is, in fact often, the work of the Centre to serve the interests of its financiers. It is pertinent to remember that BJP’s 2014 election manifesto had assured that industrial growth will take precedence over environmental protection. Prakash Jawadekar, former Minister of Environment & Forests, also stated, at the climate summit in New York, that the focus of his government was “lifting India’s masses above poverty through encouraging economic growth and not protecting environment” And, the BJP, both at the Centre and in the States, has been doing all it takes to go ahead, with projects which help industrialists and bring in legal or illegal revenue. The brazenness and insensitivity of the Governments is such that it compelled a minor girl from Nilgiris and seven other children to seek justice from the Supreme Court in terms of intergenerational equity stating that “month by month the Western Ghats is being chipped away” and that “unbridled development would leave their generation without a future and livelihood” Our own Goa Foundation, which joined hands with the children, said the petition concerned a total land area of 1,29,037 sqkm and that a population of 50 million were directly and 200 million indirectly dependent on the Western Ghats and its ecology, and that the future of entire southern India is intimately linked with the healthy survival of the Western Ghats.
At one time, protests occurred mainly in Salcete, where people never spared either the Portuguese or the Congress or BJP. Today, not only green activists, but ordinary rural folk across Goa, are agitating fearlessly against the Government. And, they have been successful in various parts of Goa, in Melauli, Sanguem, earlier in Canacona, recently in Pernem and now over ferry toll. Tenacity and determination pays and this is what Goans have, at last, learnt from a government, that leads people to frustration, provoking people to violence, which, sadly, is the only language that Governments in India know. Goans have been thankfully patient and commendably exercising restraint. The minister who, displayed his cowardice by labelling respectable activists as ‘frauds’, had a taste of his arrogance. He was forced to eat humble pie, being compelled to reverse his ‘irreversible’ decisions.
However, let us not be oblivious that persistence has paid off mostly in areas where BJP is mortally scared of losing its hold. Elsewhere, the issues of bungalow of a BJP VIP is being examined by the Court, the resort in 10,000 sq mtrs area, both in Old Goa, double tracking, Film City in Canacona, IIT in Rivona, expansion of highway through Bhoma and a number of others, which are even difficult to enumerate, are pending. The poor people of Bhoma, Velsao and surrounding areas, the strong defenders of cult and heritage zones, irrespective of creed, and many other people, are being driven to despair, leaving them no other recourse but expensive, prolonged and tedious Court cases, if not violence.
Everyday, the newspapers are full of unpleasant news of scams, illegalities, violations of CRZ regulations, destruction of hills and sand dunes, assaults, murders, frauds, accidents, etc. All this wouldn’t have happened had the perpetrators not had the support and encouragement of someone in power. How can a bungalow and a resort come up in a heritage zone? The CM himself announced the resort at Ela, cowardly avoiding to say it was at Old Goa. Why was the police attempting to obstruct the signature campaign in Margao, against the project, if the Government feels it is right in sanctioning it? Why the intransigence in Bhoma & Velsao allowing destruction of houses to permit coal corridors, detrimental to people’s health?
The BJP double-engine sarkar not only doesn’t care for its own people’s interests and concerns but even despises High Court orders, facing now a contempt case in the Tiger Reserve case. Hopefully, the HC will hold the government in contempt.
In Goa, the mess and illegalities are mostly promoted by the Government. Even if the local Government is not in agreement, it needs to toe the line, to save the ministers’ chairs. This is more important for them than to talk to people about their concerns. The government perhaps feels that people’s dissatisfaction is temporary and could be compensated with the cuts it obtains from the projects. Let me remind the BJP of the humiliation the Congress faced in 2012. The disillusionment today is far more than 2012 and Goa is different from other States. BJP will do well in mending its ways, as people are quickly realizing its anti-people policies.
(The author is a retired banker)
