I have seen the picturesque Sal River from a hotel many years ago almost where it empties into the Arabian Sea.Under The National Waterways Act 2016 [25 March, 2016] Sal River is one of the six Goan rivers out of 111 Indian rivers which have been nationalised by the Government of India, the remaining Goan rivers being Chapora River, Cumberjua River, Mapusa/Moira Rever, Mandovi River and Zuari River. The Goa Government no longer has any authority over these rivers. It is the feeling that in order to set up buffer stacks for third rate coal imported from Australia by Gautam Adani for his steel plants in Karnataka and Maharashtra, the adjoining fields of some of these rivers may be turned into coal hubs, thereby destroying the ecology of large parts of Goa.From this year, the number of non Goans on the Goa Electoral Roll starts to surpass the number of Goans and the process is irreversable. Goa already has a chief minister who is not really of Goan origin. For all practical purposes Goa is a colony of India. JM
