You no longer have to be at sea alone in a boat or with a loved one to realise the seriousness of the problem of flooding in Goa during the monsoon.
Professor Nandikumar Kamat has observed how Panjim (more romantic an appellation than Panjim) is starting to resemble Venice. Venice, I believe, is still a part of Europe and hasn’t broken off and joined Brexit but Goa – formerly known as Pearl of the Orient – is in India.
While Venice is a well planned and beautiful city for over a long period, Panjim is an upstart and cannot claim to the same status as Venice. We have always had water around Panjim but not this much!
Now, this is progress and development – Goan style.
Goa is drowning – in more than one sense of the word – and Monsoon Magic is taking on a new and ominous meaning, a phrase resembling something from the pages of the writings of Edgar Alan Poe.
Maybe, a young and enterprising Goan might want to start a guest house with horrific paintings on the walls of the events of recent times.
People who have travelled all over the world might be in for a surprise.
If you think you have seen it all, and done it all, come to Goa for Monsoon Magic for an overnight stay, and you will change your mind. You will not be the same again. Believe me, it is the sort of place even Alfred Hitchock would not enter. Yes, this place is for the bold not just beautiful.
The ongoing local taxi owners strike has lost its impact as the pouring rains has watered down mobility of all vehicles. Please bring your own canoe next time. What will tourists do during the heavy downpours in Goa?
Stay in your rooms, tourists (and, I hope you are not on the ground floor). Enjoy the scenery, and some world famous Goa Caju feni. No. Think again!
A former CM of Goa who is in his 80’s claims feni might be the cause of cancer. Yes, there has been an increase in the big C in the last few years.
That generations of Goans have been drinking caju and coconut feni for centuries has made no impression on him at all. Until the official medical research report is in, please take one sip at a time. The late tongue-in-cheek writer George Menezes would fully approve of your way you drinking feni.
Goans, get ready for next monsoon. Invest in a boat and not a car as with a car you might not get too far, and who wants to get their new socks and shoes wet, anyway. Casino owners could make a good case if they told the government there is no difference between having their boats on River Mandovi or on land in Panjim. Who can say it is not true during the monsoon?
The Regional Plan cannot be rushed as there are hundreds of mistakes in it. The Env Minister cannot keep to his deadline of August 30. He cannot leave a disaster plan for future generations.
Ground plus one has to be the norm for all villages. Our villages must continue to be a benchmark of quality of life in Goa.
