“Rivulet bursts into flames at Sancoale” read the front page story on Herald yesterday 2nd November 2008. The incident narrates the sad state of affairs Goa is gripped with. Our rivulets are on fire. Our wells are on fire. Burning rivers is a sign indeed of extremely sad state of affairs in our midst in Goa. The report mentions that is the seepage of petroleum products that has made rivulet and the surrounding wells ripe to go on fire. Nearby industries in Port Town of Vasco are squarely responsible for this state is anyone’s sensible guess. The authorities that are not able to pin down the cause and identify the culprit are another joking matter that deserves public attention. Of course investigations have been imitated by Goa State Pollution Control Board (GPSCB)!
The Sancoale rivulet on fire is only one example of the manner in which development in Goa has been grossly anti-nature. There are several other examples wherein the situations are no better. The entire mining belt of India has done massive damage to our water bodies. Our rivers are massively silted with mining rejects, natural springs dried up, wells are without water and dangerous water crisis has hit the mining belt. The crisis is threatening to hit the coastal belt as well with rampant mining in Selaulim Dam watershed.
Mining industry is leading all round destruction of Goa. Water shortages that are to hit us in near future is direct fall out of this situation. Tourism and rampant construction activities are steadily destroying water bodies of Coastal Goa. Due to leakages in septic tanks ground water is increasingly getting polluted. This is unhealthy development – hostile to nature.
Besides mining, tourism and Construction lobby, it is automobile industry that is responsible for large scale ecologically undesirable development. With increasing number of vehicles everyday, the demand for new roads and widening of existing roads, including widening of existing highways is gaining currency. These roads are beneficial to industry alone. Six lane highway road widening projects of the state government of Goa is another example to this pro-automobile industry drives.
Automobile industry does not stop at the influencing State policies alone. It has also influences civil institutions such as spaces around Temples and Churches in Goa. Through out my childhood I visited St. Anthony’s Church in my village of Siolim. Its compound used to be very cool and I used to enjoy direct contact with the mud. Over a past decade or so things changed: church decided to tar the compound wall that now caters as superb parking slot for vehicles of those coming to the church on Sundays and other days. Now it is tarred and gets heated up! I miss something every time I look at it. No doubt it has benefited few individuals; automobile industry captured one more frontier – the church compound. One only need to count number of Church compounds and Temple compounds in Goa that are tarred there by increasing temperature on ground specially during sunlight. This is another unhealthy development practice adopted by our society.
The re-thinking on development paradigm that is eco-hostile has to come from society more so from popular folk level. This so because our scientific establishment has meet bought off largely by industry that is bent upon generating large scale eco-hostile development projects. Media then is roped in to manufacture consent for its acceptance. The essence these projects being eco-hostile necessarily needs lots of coxing for its acceptance in society. If it does not work then coercion is deployed – legal and administrative coercion. Democratic processes are subverted – as it is happening in recent attempt of the State-Industry combine to win themselves legitimacy through various regional plans under intense debate in Goa since 2005.
The current rise in articulation levels of the People in Goa is very healthy sign. The response in the face of pain is cry – soft or loud – that expresses the state of affairs. The protests and their current state in Goa is exactly this. They have rose up to say what they do not want. It is heartening that people in Goa have rose up to express pain and say what they do not need – Commercial housing, Mining, Special Economic Zones, Casinos to name only few.
There is expressed concern in few quarters in Goa that that this is too negative an orientation of movement and it needs kind of positive agenda to change its contents and image. This is a legitimate concern and must be addressed on priority. One guiding principle that comes to mind as I reflect: Movements must identify and document water bodies and their details and must vow to defend them at all cost as the water is source of life on this planet earth that we inhabit. After identifying series of water bodies identify the linkages of these in their daily lives with regard to water and related security and independence. Then identify the water sources and ground water bodies’ network that is prevalent in once city and village.
From water one needs to move on to food cultivation spaces and move towards making Goa food self dependence. Land is crucial in this endeavour. We need to decide whether to continue dishing out of our precious land to Real Estate, Industry and Mining or to reverse the trends. These concerns have to come centrally on the agenda of the movements.
It is not enough to think on eco-friendly development pattern, land ownership patterns and the way they have been changing from the time of Portuguese Colonial beginnings in 1510 needs to be understood. My study on the large tracks of land under occupation of Aldeia de Goa in Nauxi-Bambolim in Tiswadi taluka has brought forth these sharp asymmetries emerging in land ownership patterns over this period. In 2010 we are about to complete 500 years of Portuguese landing in Goa. It is a very good time to attempt a critical assessment of the development paradigms that we have in place. It is also very good time begin serious efforts to move towards paradigm shift in term of ideas and notion of development. This is needed both from the perspective of ecology and well as from the perspective of direct democracy.
Sebastian Rodrigues
Hi ,
ReplyDeleteVery well written and agreement .
In ur parish as well the ground around the church has been tarred .
The 4 and 6 laning of the roads are going to displace many all in the name of 'Development ' instead no one thinks of improving the public transportation system in Goa which will half the use of public vehicle in Goa .metered taxis at reasonable rates is the need of the hour bus services till at least 10 pm at night .
Kim Miranda