There is just one answer to whether Goa accepts the new Coastal Regulation Zone notification and it is a loud and resounding ‘No’. This response is neither new nor sudden. It first emerged at the draft stage, when Goenkars overwhelmingly rejected the draft notification as they believe, and rightly so, that it will cause untold harm to the coastal areas of the State.
On June 18, 2018, as the government was holding a function to mark Revolution Day, another revolution of sorts was being launched. Representatives of 16 organisations fighting issues concerning the State,18 organisations doing battle at the village level and four individuals – a scientist, two HC lawyers and an agriculturist – were submitting their memorandum opposing the new draft Coastal Regulation Zone notification 2018. The final notification is now out, with no changes. Do the views and signatures of these organisations and 15,000 Goenkars who opposed it mean nothing?
The coastal zone regulation notification will lead to the slaughter of the coastal areas. Goa has a fragile ecosystem, sandwiched as it is between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats, and if this ecosystem is tampered with, then there is little hope that the land could survive the onslaught against the environment.
For decades, even though there were laws adequately protecting the coastal land, with development banned within a certain distance of the high tide line, environment activists have had to fight encroachments in the protected areas. The new CRZ notification reduces this protected area, bringing constructions on the sands of Goa and completing the destruction of Goa that was started decades ago.
We are staring at a situation, where properties along the coast that were till now out of the development ambit would now be purchased by the highest bidder, who will then convert the area into a tourism enclave. Future generations of Goenkars will not see sand dunes, what they would possibly see would be a flattened piece of land, on which has been planted and grown a manicured lawn of a variety that is not endemic to the State. For this they would probably have to crane their necks and look over the wall of a private tourism property as entry would be controlled, reducing totally the chances of Goenkars digging their toes into the silver sands of Goem. This rather chilling scenario is entirely plausible, but can be stopped from happening if measures are taken today to curtail the destruction of the environment. Releasing the new CRZ notification the Union government was clear that it would boost business, but at what cost?
Where will Goem and the Goenkar figure in this scenario? Does Goenkarponn not consist of fighting the threats and the damage to the land?
The chorus against the new Coastal Regulation Zone notification is growing. Activist Kashinath Shetye has already declared that he will challenge it in court, and Congress has also opposed it, announcing it would begin with some state-wide protests against the notification. But can Congress unequivocally state that should it come to power at the Centre, it will scrap the notification?
Goa needs more than a single environmentalist to fight this in court, it needs the people to rise up and say that they don’t want the destruction of their land. Thousands of people signed the memorandum against the draft CRZ notification in June last year, yet there was no change from the draft to the final release of the notification. People’s power will take the cause ahead, but Goa also needs it political leaders, across all parties to stand up for the State. This is an issue that cannot be left to an opposition party alone to fight. This is a cause that the regional parties in Goa – Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and Goa Forward Party – should also take up. The time is not for verbal declarations of defending the land, but for action on the ground. Can these regional parties stand with the Goenkars on this issue?
The demand now should be absolutely clear, that changes to the environment protection laws that are regressive and against public interest should be scrapped. It is the future of our beloved Goem that is at stake here. It has to be made absolutely clear that the new CRZ rules are not in favour of the environment, not in favour of the common man. It is time for every Niz Goenkar to stand up and be counted in the battle to save Goem from being destroyed. This may be the last chance that we get to save our land. It can’t be forfeited.
