I have just seen the documentary entitled the 'Rape of Goa' Seeing all that concrete together really slammed me in my face. The cutting of hills too saddened me. On my last visit to Goa in January 2007 I saw some of these concrete cages coming up but seeing them all together, one after the other, really makes you realize the great and irreversible destruction that has been done to amche Goa. My maternal grandmother and wife from this great, beautiful land...both from Salcette.
We have relatives all over Goa and they still live in their ancestral houses, the thought of selling out to builders have always been shunned by them. Unfortunately, the present destruction and the rape of the land is solely the due to the greed of a section of Goan people especially the politicians and the bureaucracy. The common man can only protest but really can do very little to stop these builders from doing what they like. The same thing has happened to the city of Karachi where I am at present. The greed of the people to see old buildings and put up multi-storied building has completely destroyed the city. If what is left of Goa is to be saved I believe that a concerted efforts by Goan organizations to block the builders by going to court is the only way...only when outsiders and a section of the Goans learn that it has become very expensive to indulge in illegal construction business in Goa will this stop. Congratulation to Mr. Rajan Parrikar for taking the pains to highlight this destruction of Goa and to the Goan public. I believe that this documentary should get wide publicity and should be shown in every village of Goa by a mobile unit. Michael Ali Karachi, Pakistan
