----------------------------------------------------------------------- Documented by Goa Desc Documentation Service & circulated by Goa Civic & Consumer Action Network (GOA CAN)<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Ph:2252660 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------- Invitation to Ruin ---------------------- It is wise to replace the old naphtha pipeline which has served its time and purpose and is presently one of the causes of soil and water pollution. The present leaking pipeline is not only a source of pollution but a threat to life as far as accidental fires are concerned. Therefore, a new pipeline must be laid at the earliest.
However, it should follow all norms of safety which should be prescribed by the government to avoid future disasters, The laying down of the pipeline should be done under strict supervision of the concerned government authorities.
It is up to the public, government and journalists to control the greed of the entrepreneurs and permit them to collect profit without damage to the society and the environment. Unfortunately, the politicians' only concern is safeguarding their vote banks by encouraging and perpetrating illegalities.
When the people of Goa including the immediate victims were agitating and struggling to protect their environment and their lives, be it in the Konkan Railway Realignment agitation, the Anti-Meta Strips struggle and many other struggle, individuals like Mario Cabral e Sa, 'An Ecological Disaster' (View from Mandovi, July 6) chose to be on the other side of the fence, opposing the genuine demands of the people for reasons best known to them.
But all that is now the past. There are many disasters yet to happen - the SEZ (Special Economic Zone) and the Mopa airport. The idea of the Mopa airport was conceived as early in 1987 and I am told, was to be purely a refueling base for international airlines and defence aircraft due to the crises in Sri Lanka and the Middle East - a fact which has been kept hidden from the public and the people of the locality who are being deceived that it is in their interest, when it is not.
The fact is that, no airport is a job-generating unit. Further, the previous circumstances have now changed and the need for an airport at Mopa is no longer there, Worse still, the residents of the area are not aware that they all are going to be displaced if the airport and SEZ become a reality.
It is up to people like Mr Cabral and others to use the pen to warn the people of the various disastrous consequences of the ill-conceived projects well before these projects become a reality.
MATANHY SALDANHA, Cortalim in a letter to the Editor ---------------------------------------------------- The Navhind Times 16/7/03 page 10 ----------------------------------------------------
======================================= GOA DESC RESOURCE CENTRE Documentation + Education + Solidarity 11 Liberty Apts., Feira Alta, Mapusa, Goa 403 507 Tel: 2252660 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] website: www.goadesc.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Working On Issues Of Development & Democracy =======================================
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