Team Herald
MARGAO: In a major development, the Diocesan Commission for Ecology (DCE) has Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and the other 39 MLAs, expressing concern over the serious ecological damage and disruption of life being caused by the double-tracking works being ruthlessly pushed through in parts of Goa.
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In what is being considered as the first official stance of the Archdiocese on the double-tracking project, said the effects on the health of traditional residents of the sound pollution, carbon emissions, and vibrations generated by trains thundering past the very doorsteps of village homes have apparently not received due consideration.
DCE Convenor Fr Bolmax Pereira expressed distress at the miseries of the affected populace, which are being compounded by the unresponsiveness and arrogance of the officials. The DCE has appealed to the moral conscience and responsibility of the elected representatives towards the holistic development of the State.
“In fact, the woes of people seem to have no end as traditional drainage paths are summarily blocked, water bodies destroyed, fishermen’s traditional livelihoods threatened and close-knit villages ripped apart by the physical bifurcation of the railway tracks,” Fr Pereira added.
DCE further pointed out that the main cause of noise and vibrations comes from freight and high-speed trains, while emissions from diesel exhaust and dust from tracks pollute the air and that fuel combustion, track abrasion and freight leakages have been causing the most soil and plant contamination, because their emissions are neither chemically nor biologically degraded. DCE also observed that the heavy metals found in the water bordering the tracks are often caused by leakages from petroleum products carried on the system.
The letter also spoke about the ‘undeniable impact of climate change’ and painted a bleak picture of what is in store for the future if course action is not adhered to.
DCE urged the CM and the legislators to stop, think, collect data, analyse it with impeccable honesty and have the will, courage and capability to change direction accordingly.
“There needs to be a positive spirit that is the guiding force behind conceptualisation of sustainable developmental policies. Every locale has its own unique human, cultural and ecological characteristics that must be given due respect in the steady progress of development. Or else, we in Goa can look forward to a very bleak future – if indeed there will be a future at all,” said Fr Bolmax.
