I have carefully read this below article by Joao Barros Pereira. The subject words are clear " Mud, Muck, and the Monkey. All these three words are related to River Mandovi. Surely any river will have mud and muck but not monkey. I tried to analyse what the writer wants to say. I read this letter thrice but I was left to ponder Parrikar saying "If you do swim, you will fall very sick." Was the author implying that these could be monkey words? NO INSULT INTENDED TO ANYONE, BUT PARRIKAR WAS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.
In my younger days we used to have swimming and sports activities in the Mandovi and lots of prizes, medals etc were offered. My friends who were good swimmers won several medals, swimming from Panjim to Verem/Betim and back. We hardly got obstructions -- a few barges -- but no ferry boats or canoes were permitted to be on our route since the Captain of Ports was in position to control these sports. Young boys and girls would take part in these interesting river sports -- a past I cannot forget. Now everything is gone and we can only gulp the sewage and dirt coming from St Inez creek as well as from casinos. Now what we need is Domperindon tablets to stop vomiting if we gulp any of this water by mistake. Can anybody believe that the Goa State Pollution Control Board will be able to certify that Mandovi is clean and safe for swimming? Or give it a clean bill of health? For that matter who can believe that after the Government appoints Gaming Commissioner the River Mandovi will be clean? Why should the Government drag scientists from GSPCB and ask them to monitor 24x7 when the Government itself cannot control the sewage thrown in the river? Politicians are trying to fool us and we are gulping all their lies and all the sewage. Parrikar was absolutely right uttering those words --but the poor fellow left our Mandovi in such a bad scenario. He died before he could accomplish the task of cleaning it up. Stephen Dias Resident of Dona Paula Message: 1 Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2019 18:15:03 +0900 From: Joao Barros-Pereira <[email protected]> To: goanet <[email protected]> Subject: [Goanet] Mud, Muck, And The Monkey In The Mandovi River. Message-ID: <cahg__j5amtu5d_ouazqav_4kw0y2bphn2tpx0pubsjufmpt...@mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Sometime prior to his death Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar warned the Goan public and tourists not to swim in the Mandovi River: if you do swim you will fall very sick. What was Manohar Parrikar talking about: mud, muck or the monkey in the river? We know the barges which carried manganese ore for decades deposited some of the cargo - intentionally or not - into the river. And, this is an old and long story. Also, muck and garbage have been added to the once-upon-a-time good water of the river to make it bad. For a long time now. Yesterday I read somewhere how Chief Minister Sawant stopped his car when he saw someone throwing flowers into the River Mandovi. He cares. And, here lies the silver lining to a dark monsoon cloud. Again yesterday, a minister in the government cleared the dark clouds over the sky when he said the monkey (read: sewage) from casinos does not flow into the river from casinos. Now, this is great news for me and I'm sure the casino owners and casino lobby. If people want to gamble, it is their private decision. No one has a right to criticize them. They have the necessary licenses don't they? If there is no Gaming Commission in place and gambling on casinos is not managed according to the industry rules and regulations is another matter, and a very serious matter at that! Money laundering and using black money can weaken the economy, and worse, lead to acts of terrorism. Casinos need to follow the rules and government needs to implement the rules fully - if they have not. Otherwise, casinos can become a national security risks. Is there sewage in the Mandovi? The sewage from the casinos go into tanks when they are sealed, and put on barges, says a minister. No sewage goes into the river from the casinos. Good news. The minister says the Goa Pollution Board and some scientists monitor this procedure carefully and any criticism is false, and unscientific. If the casinos do not pollute the river does it mean there is no sewage in the River Mandovi? Can the Pollution Board and scientists give the Mandovi River a clean bill of health? Manganese silt, muck from garbage, and sewage from households has been flowing into the River Mandovi as honey has been flowing in some of our rivers in India. We all have read stories which tell us it is true. Let us find out the truth about mud, muck, and sewage in the River Mandovi. Maybe, there is mud, muck and a monkey in the river and maybe there isn't! Will the Pollution Board please clear the water and give the River Mandovi a clean bill of health. Meanwhile, let us keep in mind what the late Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told us: if you do swim you will fall very sick. Sent from my Samsung device
