In my article penned earlier, I had clearly spelt out as to how rivers across the world have sustained civilisations and societies. Whether it be the Ganges, Indus, Thames, Danube, Sienna and the list can fill the reams of paper with pages of the world’s lost history of civilization, with the loss of its rivers.
Sadly, this article speaks on the need for Goans in general and the Panjimites in particular the need to protect our River Mandovi, which largely seems to have either gone unnoticed, or ignored by the citizenry of Goa. It was on June 20, 2019, after GCZMA under Dr Prabhakar Shirodkar, conducted a site inspection and found that the entire Mandovi River front was illegally used by Trivesh Azgaokar, along with his associates, Shikhar Kumar and Rhea Kumar that the Goan media woke up to this. Interestingly, for months, the three-decker vessel named ‘Watermark’ stood firm and grounded, conducting unlicensed and illegal operations, under the alleged tacit support of the Captain of Ports. Goans would recall that everything going on in River Mandovi is bitterly against both the health, and the interest of marine biodiversity as well as our own existence, as Mandovi pollution would kill us one and all. Panjimites are by and large, each one for themselves and ritually God for all.
There are about 20,000 voters and individuals, wearing a thinking cap residing in Panjim. Each day, lakhs of people visit Panjim too. However, over months, people at large totally ignored the utter destruction and decay of River Mandovi. Gratefully, it was Atanasio Monserrate the present MLA of Panjim, who for two days raised his voice and sought to take action against the illegalities of the casino lobby. Strangely, besides myself plodding Babush from a distance, due to age factor going against me, the people of Panjim, true to their reputation did not come out hammer and tongs against the gambling lobby. There has been a misconception that the residents of Panjim are an educated and cultured lot and often they are assumed to be society caring, corruption free and magnanimous.
Rui Ferreira, a resident of Panjim, in no uncertain terms, emphatically told me that Panjimites are a greedy, lethargic and a selfish lot and work only their personal interests. Shocking Panjimites want their MLA to lift garbage and cleanup gutters but not participate in a scientific planning process.
Babush Monserrate too is learning the hard way, that residents of Panjim do not even come out to protest and help save their own city and the river that sustain them. For the last few years, the CoP and the Goa Police are hand in glove systematically destroying central Panjim, but we residents bear the torture, decay and destruction of the city in stoic silence. On June 28, whilst National scientists were dishing out Coastal management plans for Panjim and for Goa, our elected representatives were absent and government officials were tactfully batting for the casino lobby and the CoP terminal building polluting units. We will all wake up only when the ugly CoP terminal building will come up in the Mandovi River and destroy the entire ambience of the Panjim city with garbage, sewage, flooding and the parking woes, let alone the destruction of our entire biodiversity by biomagnified pollutants.
Today, as we can notice, Panjim is under siege and suffering from a series of issues. There is open urination, defecation, garbage littered all round. There is traffic chaos, parking imbroglio, even with cars parked in “No Parking Areas”, and around homes of residents of Panjim; but we residents of Panjim seem to adopt and relish living in the degraded Panjim environment of today. The flotel named ‘Watermark’, owned by Azgaokar and M.V. Lexicon, besides all the casinos are destroying us. Our biodiversity in Mandovi is long depleted. We would only see invasive fish, detritus feeders and pathogens. We seem to relish formalin laced fish, but we do nothing to curb the pollution of our rivers. Just last week, I was in Panjim fish market and truly witnessed the sale of over 25 lakhs of out-station fish, which was laced with chemicals and preserved. Distinguishingly, cancers, enteric infections and physiological problems in Panjim are rising rapidly and we fail to act against the corrupt CoP for destroying the Mandovi biodiversity and forcing on our people, the adulterated marine produce from other states, which is damaging our lives. The residents of Panjim are in deep slumber and refuse to take upon themselves the challenges of decay and degradation of Panjim. It was Kashinath Shetye who is not a resident of Central Panjim, who took up the issue of illegal docking of Watermark, and expose the corrupt officials of the Captain of ports for illegally operating in River Mandovi. Last week Sabina Martins called for a protest against gambling operations happening in Panjim at Azad Maidan but there were only six from Panjim. There were more protestors from South Goa than from the Capital city. Raj Vaidya, an active Panjimite will bear testimony to this.
There is a belief amongst the residents of Panjim, that it is their duty to elect the Corporators and their MLA and with the elections over, their duty for the next 5 years ends and they well can go in deep slumber. It is this lackadaisical attitude of Panjimites that has resulted in the degradation of the city. Our rivers, mangroves, ground waters, are slowly but surely getting polluting with virulent and pathogenic microbes, which are not only causing morbidity in marine ecosystem but inflicting human beings too late for us to combat the fast growing on cogeneses in our society.
It is high time for Panjimites to pull their socks and start working to ensure the corrupt CoP, traffic police and govt. officials responsible for the parking chaos, Mandovi pollution and the garbage woes do not go unpunished. act the better it would be for us one and all.
(The writer is a retired University Professor and an environmental activist)
