It’s only we as people who can protect the planet now or the price to pay will be far too high

As the world observes and even celebrates International Mother Earth Day today, Mother Earth is urging a call to action.

And in our Goa, never has the need for regeneration of our ecosystem had a greater need than now.

We are looking forward to a leadership that has sympathy and empathy toward rejuvenating Goa. Can Goa afford deadly glass bottles on the beach which have led to so many serious accidents both for humans as well as the marine life? Can we afford massive pollutants in our groundwater, can we afford the daily destruction of our beaches with festivals being observed with the crowding of thousands and the bursting of firecrackers? 

Our environment and ecosystem are not only about preservation but also call for the observation of certain codes by those who destroy the environment the most – people which is linked to the way we see the environment and ecosystem around us. For instance, can we roam nude on our beaches? Or for that matter get into the sea with all clothes on. Even when our fishermen repair their boats, they are careful not to do it at the edge of the water. Do we cook and wash clothes on the sands and the streets? Can we allow the dumping of sewage into our water bodies, rivers, and the sea?

The expectations of the people are high and confident. If the current government can begin its earnest mission to protect our land and resources there is no better time to renew the pledge to do this, than on the Mother Earth Day today,  April 22. 

People are our environment but so is the universe of nature

This may be directly unrelated to the subject at hand and yet relevant. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru hinted at resigning from premiership if warring factions of Indians did not unite as one, and not go after each other stating that his continuing as Prime Minister was of no use unless people understood his ideals. No country would progress unless its people were united.

The same can and should be stretched to the entire ecosystem of people – animals, wildlife, marine creations, and the whole of nature.  Their never-ending conflict is threatening the universe.

From Brazil to Benaulim, the destruction of our ecosystem has to be stopped.

Before we preserve we must look at what we have destroyed. Rio’s Copa Cabana beach in Rio, Brazil, has often been threatened with the dumping of raw sewage and waves of plastic. In 2013 amateur swimmers went into the black and brackish waters of Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach Saturday for an open-sea race, the Rei e Rainha do Mar, or King and Queen of the Sea competition. The water was so black that it brought out demonstrators calling for a thorough cleanup of the Olympic city’s waterways, polluted also with raw sewage and trash. Swimmers complained about the bad state of the water which was full of plastic bags and other debris.

But from Brazil to Benaulim, the problem is the same, and the commitment to fight the challenge to the ecosystem has to be the same. It must come from within. Protecting your village, your backwater, your river is a mission everywhere, from the favelas of Sao Paulo to the backwaters of the Sal in Salcete. 

Or else it will be too late. Already the price for cleaning up the sea at the Copa Cabana goes into billions. If we don’t do this now, the price to pay will be impossible.

In Goa and everywhere, the elements in the ecosystem must be allowed to live and prosper together. The dolphins on our seas, the turtles in Morjim and Galgibagh, and the wildlife in Sattari and Mollem all have their rights. But these rights must also co-exist with the rights of forest dwellers and the forest communities who must be allowed to settle outside the protected and reserved forests areas. 

The happy and peaceful co-existence of all species without hurting a single one of them is a great balancing act that mankind, guilty of making the planet a lesser place than what it was, must take responsibility for.

Our land, our villagers and towns, our beaches and forests are not some short-term pleasure objects that we play with. Right here in Goa, those who chose governance and those who are chosen have a clear opportunity to have a long-term relationship with nature and rebuild what has been destroyed, From our farms to our forests, to our rivers and streams to our hills and slopes, from banks to sand dunes, from far. Everywhere battles are being fought by the people. They are those on the streets and in the courts to defend all our environmental and coastal regulations. There are good people everywhere. From sarpanchas to lawyers, from doctors to farmers, from environmentalists to educationists, who are fighting with the aid of the law.

This is an opportunity and a positive expectation that the current dispensation will be a partner in this effort and do this hand in hand with our earth warriors.

Mother Earth is urgently asking us to take a call to action. We need a sustainable ecosystem which in turn can lead to a sustainable economy that works for both people and the planet.