The ordinance to clearly allow the backdoor entry of projects in eco sensitive zones is yet another body blow to Goa’s ecology.
In the garb of promoting tourism, the ordinance will allow construction on land which has forests but not completely forests.
That is often easy to manipulate. And it will allow construction without land conversion or change of zone up to 5% of the area.
This too is misleading since 5% of a massive area could allow a large construction.
This is the latest in a series of moves where checks and balances to preserve our environment and our land are being countered by legislative and administrative action. And who benefits. THOSE FROM OUTSIDE GOA, FROM OTHER STATES. AND WHO LOSES? GOA AND GOANS.
This is the sum and substance of this edit. This is the state of Goa today.
1. Rules are meant only for the common man. The government bends over backwards to facilitate those who are officially bringing in investments and unofficially bringing in returns for those in government who take decisions. Corruption has become endemic to the system.
2. Liars get elected and run the government on the basis of a series of untruths and U turns going back on each and every promise made during the elections.
3. The promise of zero tolerance to corruption seems like the biggest joke played on the people of Goa. Nowhere is corruption most visible to the common man than on the roads. Literally speaking. The capital Panjim has been destroyed during the term of the BJP government. Most of its roads are dug to death for ostensibly transforming the city as per a master plan. In reality, the road digging projects, most of them conducted by the GIDC have spilled way beyond their deadlines and whose costs have increased manifold.
4. Goa doesn’t have Special Status but Special Status is given to people who see Goa only as a medium to make money.
5. Connected to the above is the fact that people of Goa are losing control over their land. Land is either acquired, illegally taken over or seized by manipulation. And in each of these cases the State is either the usurper or backs those who are taking over the land, ostensibly for projects which will give jobs. While job creation for Goans is always the reason given for bringing in investments, a detailed study will show that skilled jobs in the core industries in Goa do not go to locals. And now increasingly even these jobs are going to those from outside the State.
6. Instead of protecting the land of Goans, the government has introduced a bill to regularize all illegal structures in existence prior to February 2014. This bill will override the Regional Plan, the Land Revenue Code and the
Panchayati Raj Act, every legislation meant to protect the rights of the common man over land. If this is not evidence of which the side the government is on, nothing will be. THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT WITH THE PEOPLE.
7. The latest, an ordinance permitting eco friendly and agro projects in Eco Sensitive Zones has dealt another body blow. The creation of the Eco Sensitive Zones in the Regional Plan of 2021, was done with the sole purpose of bringing in projects like the Tiracol Golf Course and Villa projects in the garb of tourism.
8. Lawlessness prevails with a spate of thefts, daylight daring robberies and murders. Killings of the elderly are on the rise. Drug gangs run by both foreigners and locals continue their absolute dominance. This spreads to large scale prostitution rackets, making drugs, prostitution and casinos the force drivers of Goa’s tourism of today. According to the IndyaNewz.com and the Margao-based social organisation and Think Tank, Forum for Fairness & Good Governance in India (FFFGG) survey conducted over three weeks, in Goa and abroad, on a scale of 1 to 100, Goa has fallen about 15 to 18 places lower on the choice of the international tourists preferred holiday destination. The survey finds “Lawlessness in beach areas—touts, pimps, nagging and noisy local tourists, lower income Indian male travellers ogling at foreign female tourists and high hotel and tourist taxi rates, falling quality (and quantity) of food items, lesser choice on the food menu, no regular entertainment options during the entire tourist season.
9. Our heritage has been destroyed with a purpose to wipe out our history, how many of our ancient monuments and heritage structures are protected. Does that state stand up to their destruction? Heritage is like a beautiful anklet on the feet of a woman or bangles on her arm. These symbols when destroyed take away from the perfectness and the beauty of our land. As sea planes and air balloons, not to speak of casinos become symbols of tourism, our monuments which defined our character are gone.
10. Among the various U turns of this government, the one which glaringly stands out is the one on casinos. From a stated position of extreme opposition to casinos and the promise of moving them out of Goa’s waters, the government has shifted extremely to a position where the casinos stay in Goa’s waters. The announcement of moving them out of the Mandovi to other rivers was absolutely false with no effort made to build infrastructure in the Zuari and Chapora rivers. The government then used its own inefficiency as an excuse for not moving.
11. The State’s economy is in a shambles after the stoppage of mining. It was the BJP government which stopped mining after which the centre suspended all environment clearances. A landmark judgment by the Supreme Court paved the way for the State government to draw up a new sustainable roadmap for mining by issuing fresh leases and monitoring mining activity. This alone would have started mining by now. The government, instead, match fixed mining resumption in tandem with the mining companies by renewing 88 leases, when it had in its possession several inputs including reports of how the initial grant of these leases were on doubtful environmental clearances. It is the governments wrong doing which has forced watchdogs like the Goa Foundation to go to court again and the valid grounds of this opposition will prevent the restart of mining, by not following the best practices.
12. Most importantly, the spectre of intolerance is creeping into our bedrooms and our kitchens. Under the BJP’s national rule our culture, our beliefs and even our food habits a being watched and those who do not confirm to the so called “majority view” meet unfortunate ends, like what happened at Dadri. And Goa’s writers are stepping out in protest.
But does all this matter. It doesn’t? When a government can refuse to bring a bill to make the Medium of Instruction policy an act and give grants to institutions using English as a medium of instruction, and block the Regional plan – the two planks on which it came to power – it shouts out loud that power has gone to its head. And by allowing those from outside Goa to reap benefits at the cost of those who love this land, the BJP is committing an act of grave betrayal with its mandate of 2012.
As the voice of Goa, Herald pledges to continue to be this voice, to fight the good fight to reclaim Goa. This land is ours and so is this government’s. As masters we have the right to decide who will rule. How long will this betrayal be tolerated? How long will it last? This dam will burst. This dam has to burst. As it did in 2012, so it will in 2017 when people will take to the streets, but according to law and teach a lesson to those who have betrayed us. Let’s exercise that right .
