This is the story of a happy princess, who unwittingly got grounded on one stormy night on the shores of Goa. She fretted and she fumed, she groaned and she moaned unable to get her feet off the sandy bank, lamenting with the wind into the silent night, chasing locals and tourists with her wailing songs. Is she a ghost ship, a victim of avarice, a pawn in vote bank politics? Flashbulbs popped to take her story to newsprint. Much ink poured over her sob story. Quotes and misquotes, a dozen photo ops for eager-beaver shutterbugs in the papers. Un-consented celebrity status thrust upon her, she hoped for a prince to rescue her fate, every hopeful turning into a frog at the first kiss. So, NGOs shouted her abuse, fence sitters tut-tutted, while politicians made a fast buck. Inspiring many articles and poems of her unfortunate fate, the has-been-princess-now-turned-pauper no longer makes headlines. Yes, of course, did I forget the disco lights thrown at her at a recent party bash to hint that maybe she could be a useful prop?
Im passionate about Goa, even if I do believe Im a world citizen. And so are 70 per cent of the people who live and work in Goa and passionately stand up for this State. People whose forefathers and grandfathers build their homes and stature off the sweat of their brow, so that their grandchildren could benefit from the fruits of their toil. A toil that is going waste today, because the curse of politics that afflicts our lives and the future of Goa. Saddled with shameless opportunists and vote bank politics, the fate of the fragile coastline of North Goa continues to sit on the brink of impending environmental disaster, and the possibility of locals who make a living off the coastal belt losing their bread and butter, permanently. Goa is a tourism dependent state, like it or not, its certified. The world comes to us to chill. Even at the cost of our taps running dry, our power supply blowing up our electric appliances, the drug mafia and sex tourism hitting an all time high. Even if the honourable Tourism Minister issues a State sound ban on public parties at public places after 10.00pm (and turns a blind eye to parties with political blessings till 4.00am), without providing alternatives to those making a living in the restaurant, club and entertainment industry. Why doesnt the Tourism Minister, who is also the Environment Minister, moot a special entertainment zone (like in other tourism dependent countries) so one can respect the laws of the land and yet provide a place for tourists and high- spenders who spend on tourism related activities to ensure tourism thrives? With no long-term intelligence applied to popular politics now given the mad rush for seats -- much tide has flowed beneath the River Princess steadfastly eating into the sea bank. Despite judicial representation made in the Court based on a report by the Goa State Pollution Control Board under the Environmental Protection Act (EPA), on the environmental implications of the River Princess to the coastline of North, and a special law passed at the Assembly for the protection of environment (all these laws on paper mean nothing), she continues to rot and dangerously alter the natural course of the sea. If you see closely, an artificial sand bank around the ship has affected the natural flushing mechanisms of the sea, disrupting Nature to work its own way. Environmental activists like Claude Alvares laments the steady ruin of the Sinquerim-Candolim beach now littered with broken liquor bottles and debris of corroded metal. If the ship breaks up on its own, weve lost the beach for the next twenty years, or maybe for all time, as pieces of corroded metal will spread all over the coastal line making it dangerous for swimming and walking, he states forcefully. Citing vote bank party politics and corruption for inaction against the removal of the ship, because its too late now, Claude believes a systematic, supervised breaking down of the ship by certified government recognised experts in the field, is the only way to save the beach and avoid a potential environmental disaster. But there are no takers in the Government. There are highly qualified ship breakers in Kerala who can do a good job, within a month, and clear the ship through an arrangement of selling back the scrap, with no cost to the government. Breaking down the ship is the only option now and it has to be done fast, he explains. The Tourism Minister must put mind to action with a team of dedicated environmentalists to save the coast of North Goa. With another monsoon around the corner and cock-eyed focus on long-term tourism planning for Goa, the River Princess might just decide to teach us a very ghastly lesson. Is it time to say God save Goa.? (ENDS) ============================================================================== The above article appeared in the May 28, 2006 edition of the Herald, Goa _____________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. Goanet mailing list (Goanet@goanet.org)