Team Herald
PANJIM: The people’s fight to protect Goa’s land is raging in its towns and villages, taken forward by Goans from different walks of life - from students to farmers, schoolteachers to lawyers, bankers and doctors. This is a flashpoint: the awakening of the people.
The people of Goa are speaking out against the destruction of their land and the exploitation of laws that have allowed large-scale projects to devastate their soil and existence.
This was the recurring theme on Herald TV Point-Counter Point programme and on YouTube and all its social media platforms. The text version of the discussion can be read in the centerspread of the Review Section of this edition.
The panellists discussed how the land is being brokered by the government and how laws have been manipulated to facilitate mega projects, crushing the very existence of Goa and its people.
The statistics of destruction in the entire fragile Western Ghats region and not just in Goa is alarming. The Western Ghats, one of the 36 Global biodiversity hotspots, has seen a 5% reduction in its evergreen cover and a 9% loss of agricultural area. Deforestation, mining, and infrastructure construction have led to landslides, floods, and droughts.
The multiple arguments against projects, especially the massive Bhutani project in Sancoale centred around the overall destruction of Goa that the people are fighting against.
Swapnesh Sherlekar, an activist, who has taken on the crusade against illegal development using information gleaned through thorough study and painstakingly collated via RTI applications said in no uncertain terms that the government “is acting as a broker”.
“When you apply for permissions, there are restrictions on cutting hill slopes”, he said and added: “The proponents of the controversial Bhutani project will need a lot more permissions. Hill cutting permissions under 17(A) the gradient is beyond 25%. Can that parcel even be considered for hill cutting permissions?”
Former Forest Minister Alina Saldanha said, “It’s evident that rules and laws are being violated. Documents show that certain areas in Sancoale village are sensitive, like survey number 257/1, previously identified as a private forest. This means it's a sacred place that needs protection for plant and animal life. However, the State level expert committee’s report from 2012-2018 declared it a private forest, but it was withdrawn from the list in 2018. I question what environmental changes allowed this withdrawal, enabling construction activity and tree cutting.”
Lawrence Fernandes, a senior citizen and firebrand activist recalls how he, and his fellow Sancoale locals, fought tooth and nail to prevent the construction project from coming up from the time of Manohar Parrikar. He also outlined that this agitation is really special because common people from all walks of life have simply come out because they know Goa is getting destroyed.
Concerning the way forward, two likeminded panellists had different approaches.
“The government should have a committee at every village and city level. People cannot rise all the time. That cannot be the law of the land. Whenever there is a major project locals should be invited to give their inputs,” said Alina Saldanha
“It is only the will of the people. They need to expose the government. One has to fight the system, Committees of people will be controlled by the political leaders,” said Tulio D Souza of the GPCC
Ms Saldanha recalled how two families who still own parcels of the land taken over by Bhutani’s project used to collect fruits and cashew and also extract cashew juice and now they have been stopped. “A compound wall has been constructed and taken into the private land of these two families,” she said.
“Earlier when a tree had to be felled on private property, we needed permission. And now we are ready to fell an entire private forest and have a concrete jungle to come in its place,” she added.
These are not just recollections of the past. This is the reality of the synergy of Goans with their lands. and it is this relationship that they are fighting to protect. This was the resonance that emerged from the discussion.