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HEART TO HEART (Herald) BY ETHEL DA COSTA www.etheldacosta.com Candolim Catharsis Have any of you, Goa lovers, cared to check the state of affairs along Goa's prime piece of touristic land weighed its worth in gold in land prices? I'm very specifically talking about the six kilometer stretch from Baga to Candolim. And when you do -- since majority of Goans are most sucegad when it comes to issues that don't concern them, unless they are directly affected (or, unless, of course, its prime piece of gossip that needs to spread like wild fire) - does your stomach lurch at the sight that greets your eyes? Or, am I being overtly hyper-sensitive? Let's get straight to the point. And let's not mince words. Sometimes, tackling a problem headlong is more effective than camouflaging the truth with pretences. If this is the face of Goa - because Candolim-Calangute-Baga has been over-hyped as the touristic face of the State (ask every foreign tourist and he/she will tell you that) -- let's please present a pretty picture to the travellers of the world, especially with IFFI just around the corner. A dear friend asked me to come look over his new property for a project involving music and fashion. Located in this prime tourist paradise, he was gung-ho that the idea would click big time. Candolim had the market and the audience, he advised. But he warned me, you better also come and see the state of Candolim gearing up for the tourist season. It's a shame, he complained. This is the face of the government, and nobody gives a damn, he sniggered. He was right. The discovery was infuriating. Nobody did give a damn, specially the local sarpanch and the panchas all sitting pretty tight over the cash flow that comes with rule bending. Not to mention the pocket money in bribes! We all know that excessive, unbridled construction has soiled this jewel in our crown, but guys, please don't let your conscience die with the money in your banks. The road beginning from St Anthony's Chapel to Candolim (and further down Calangute market) had piles of assorted garbage and plastic every 100 meters or so. Unkempt footpaths lying thick with undergrowth and shrubs on both sides of the roads right in front of designer boutiques and other international branded shops. This is supposed to be funky town for tourists coming for their fix of goras and grape juice. Very ugly. Roadblocks appeared every turn with local stray cattle laying siege of what remained of the main road. But, what main road? Potholes, crators, washed out hotmixing, loose rubble, gravel and dust pollution enough to give you a case of laryngitis. Another entrepreneur doing business complained bitterly of the bad road, repeatedly dug up trenches by the telephone, electricity and water departments, who then conveniently forget to cover up these man-made graves after they have packed and vamoosed. So, what's new, huh? Not accepted, especially when the area boasts of the State's prestigious five star properties playing host to world class international travellers 365 days. And now will play host to IFFI too. And despite of all the doggedly digging, residents still complaint of no water and no electricity on the main road after sundown, further endangering life and property on this Goa's busiest tourist spots. Is this the message we want to propagate to international tourists? There are umpteen number of foreign expeditions government servants embark upon at the cost of public monies. Is this what they see in other tourism driven countries? While we're on the verge of hosting an international event in Panjim, what of sprucing up the rest of Goa? Nay, atleast the immediate neighbour? Solutions are plenty if there is a willingness of heart. Instead of looking at the Big P for answers all the time, why can't the local governing bodies put a plan together to clean Candolim, Calangute and Baga of the vice of garbage and other anomalies. This can be done by asking each and every hotel/enterprise/shack/boutique to contribute atleast Rs 50 every month that will go towards maintenance and sprucing of premises, the upkeep of roads and surrounding property. This includes making sure stray cattle stay off the roads as well. A water tanker could be deputed to wash the entire six km stretch every morning to keep dust pollution in check. Periodic picking up of garbage, pruning or cleaning up of shrubs would go a long way in putting up a presentable getup to international tourists who frequent and live around the area eight months in a year. And while we're at it, please, please stop those garish, ugly, monstrous looking signboards popping every footstep. These boards have almost swallowed up precious footpaths hawking their wares with ludicrous messages and massages! I have deliberately not mentioned sanitation, because I have a bad stomach already. Sheer apathy, greed and lack of vision has tempted successive local bodies to milk Candolim, Calangute and Baga for the goldmine that it is. While we accept that corruption is here to stay, let's spare a thought to the consequences of our present actions on the way we shape Goa's future. Goa is mine, as much as you have a responsibility to ensure it remains ours.
