VASCO: The voices for a lockdown in Vasco are growing, but the government appears to be in no mood to bring life to a halt in the port town leading to civil society members and locals speculating that internal politics and vested interest of a few Mormugao Port operators could be the reason.
Law student and activist Sherwyn Correia said that the handling of the COVID-19 outbreak at Mangor Hill has been a tragic comedy of errors. “As rightly pointed out by your paper, MHA’s guidelines for containment areas were given a convenient go-by at Mangor Hill, with no plausible justification for doing so. The spread could have been contained had they been followed to a tee. The entire municipal area ought to have been declared a containment area from day one. The unanimous demand by almost all elected representatives fell on deaf ears.”
Correia is not wrong. Local MLA Carlos Almeida, Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho, the chairperson of the Mormugao Municipal Council, councilors and people have been pressing for a lockdown, but there has been no response to it.
But, Correia went further and said, “I have no doubt that the sole motive is to protect the interests of a handful of Mormugao Port operators. International shipping may avoid the port if it comes within a containment zone, and import and transportation of cargo, particularly coal, could be impacted.”
He added, “As an anti-coal pollution activist, I am accustomed to the pandering to corporate interests by the government and pollution control bodies. But this time it has surpassed all limits.”
Correia’s views are echoed by Capt Viriato Fernandes, co-convenor of Goencho Avaaz. “Despite massive spike in the COVID-19 cases in Mangor and the town of Vasco, which calls for urgent measures like lockdown, a tried and tested method across the country and the globe, the refusal of the state government to do so raises grave doubts in its resolve to fight the pandemic. Moreover, the brazen illegal transportation of low-grade imported coal by unloading directly into barges against the consent to operate by GSPCB and the alleged connivance of the local politician with full knowledge of the beleaguered Chief Minister, gives credence to the fear and suspicion of the people that the government has chosen to keep the interest of the coal operators and political nexus above the safety and security of the people,” Fernandes said.
He added, “Further, the CM dismissing the demands of three of his party MLAs from Mormugao taluka, including the business community and common concerned citizens for a total lockdown, proves these allegations without any doubts. Goencho Avaaz will definitely not take this lying down and expose this evil nexus in the peoples’ court.”
Nationalist Congress Party’s minority cell president Nasir Khan supported the idea of imposing a lockdown in Vasco and said that the government should take the issue seriously and not play with the lives of the Vasco people just because it is losing revenue.
Vasco taxi operator Kiran Naik said that COVID-19 has become viral in Mormugao Taluka. “We require a serious lockdown to be imposed by the authorities but cannot depend on the administration. We must educate ourselves and compulsorily maintain social distancing and follow health guidelines. We must voluntarily lockdown if we are concerned.’
There is also the other view. Social activist Vikram Sarmalkar said it is true that COVID cases are surfacing and strict precautions need to be taken but that imposing a lockdown won’t help. “Chief Minister has to go as per the MHA guidelines and he just can’t impose lockdown as it has to come from the Central government. The economy of the State is in doldrums and if a lockdown is imposed then there are chances of riots, crime rates increasing. I feel lockdown in Vasco is not the solution,” he said.
