Each year, we celebrate June 5 as World Environment Day. I have in the past, delved into the genesis of the World Environment Day on April 22 and the World Biodiversity Day on May 22.
Sadly, in the world of today, these annual celebrations have become official routine and symbolic with the governments allocating budget to conduct and officially celebrate by involving themselves in cleanliness drives, tree plantations and even conducting seminars and motivating school students into understanding the relevance and importance of the World environment.
Being a retired Professor myself at University of Bombay and Goa University, it was a routine for us to have a mass gathering of students, teachers and compliment the non-teaching staff over a lecture or a seminar involving noted environmental experts to apprise of the importance and relevance of the World Environment Day. Looking back it was on June 5, 1973 that World Leaders assembled in Stockholm, Sweden to establish the inception of the day for reflecting on the status of the environment.
The theme when the day was established were two, one we must think globally but imperatively we must act locally and the other important message was to accept that Mother Earth has enough of bounties, reserves in our forests, farms, orchards, oceans and even in congested urban localities but we would never, ever have enough of resources for human greed. Look at the world of today and Goa in particular. We have our State and the country governed by leaders with myopic visions and vested interest specialised, to, after becoming a MLA or a Minister to multiply individual wealth in terms of properties, institutions commercial as well as educational: all with to magnify and multiply individual wealth. No doubt, when a sitting MLA declares his wealth before filing his nomination, we would see it grows manifold, which is why whilst the rich politician and bureaucrats collude with commercially visible industrial giants, we see invariably poverty growing in our country.
Today, we have the India poor who are more than what population India had at the time of our independence in 1947. It does not require rocket science knowledge why India has slipped badly in keeping our society healthy, strong rich in contentment. We are lower now in the world competition. India is now below Pakistan, Bangladesh and neighbouring Sri Lanka.
There is no Achhe Din for us because our Chowkidar has colluded with big industrialists not only to loot and plunder but also sold all our national assets, like airlines, railways, heritage buildings like the Red Fort in Agra for a song to vested interest thriving in our country.
It is time enough not only for the poor tribals but the cheated middle class to rid ourselves from the clutches of the Baniya Raj now in governance of our country. India is a rich country with the number of poor people sleeping hungry under the clear clean night sky growing annually. Instead of promising job and wealth creation, India is on auction, with the gleeful eyes of multinationals. We are not a democratic country today, but an autocratic regime which not only tells us what we must do, create, eat and write, but also avoid criticising the government of the day. Or else, we would be condemned into a life in prisons or jails branded by the judiciary of today’s India under the influence of the government of the day. Look at our tiny Goa and the doings of the anti-people government of the day. We Goans are singing and dancing whilst Goa is under fire.
The CoP jetty is under seige by the Captain of Ports who has downgraded Panjim from a heritage destination into a filthy paradise, with sewage copiously destroying the rich fisheries and biodiversity of our rivers. Reflect on what our Minister of Environment has been busy with. He is plundering our Western Ghats to bring into Goa the disastrous coal imports, which would fuel respiratory diseases, poor quality of life and early mortalities with acute morbidities of the Goans. Sadly, Goans by and large, is a community of idiots. We elected our MLAs and go to Rip Van Winkle slumber. We all are experts in talking and true to ourselves. ‘Mhaka kiteak poddlam’ societal approach has destroyed Goa. Only a handful of Goans are out to sacrifice for Goa.
The Congress in Goa too with all the opposition, are busy with press briefings and social post against the government of the day., Former mahila president/presidents must know that by symbolic morchas and protests over rise in fuel prices or of essential commodities is not enough to win election. Yes we all have to sweat it out to truly protect and preserve Goa for the future generations to come or else, we the generation of today, would be condemned in Goa’s history to come as a lazy generation which has failed its people.
(The writer is a retired University Professor and an Environmental Activist.)
