India has recently lent money to 80 Indian compnies to buy 350.000ha in Africa ( Ethiopia, Kenya and Madagaskar of all places....) to grow food !
Fears about food security as result of impact of climate change has lead to 30 million hectares bought up so far in poorer countries by rich countries, and farming is now big business to produce biofuels, food and other goods - talk about land grabbing and neo-colonialism.... Meanwhile in Goa, good farm land and paddyfields are being converted into horrific overcrowded over-built areas, and mining activities convert the rest of good farming land and paddyfields into deserts. Millions of tones of mining rejects are also polluting the rivers and killing fish. Aquifers are being pumped out at a rate of at least 10cubic meters of water per tone of ore, wells are drying up left right and centre (and no body knows how many so far!) , for the benefit of just a powerful *minority* of people like the mine oweners and building contractors who are getting rich by creating environmental havoc in our beautiful little Goa! The impact of climate change has already started to be felt around the world, but the scientific predictions are that it will get much much worse and faster than we ever imagined! So very soon, when the sea levels rise as result of global warming, vast areas of the coastal zones will be flooded including in Goa - so there go all your 5 stars hotels and every other big and small , legal and illegal construction along rivers and coastal zones. You will not be able to even move to the interior of Goa, because the mining activities would have transformed the whole of the interior of Goa into mega red and black rock craters with no water to drink, no top soil or access to water to grow food, no shade as all the trees will have been cut, and the temperatures will rise probably as high as in the Sahara desert. Probably your rice and fish and cocunuts (and perhaps even fenny!) will be coming all the way from Ethiopia!.....where by the way, millions often dye of hunger because of draughts..... *At that point dear fellow goans, there will be nowhere to run!* ...no matter how much money you have in your pockets! The point is that we all know that the model of development in Goa is unsustainable. We also know that there is no such thing as sustainable mining. So we must do something about it NOW, before it is too late! Besides, the time has come for everyone around the world to do their bit where ever they are to prevent serious impacts from climate change. So in Goa, to start with I suggest that we demand that the process of FAST PHASING-OUT of mining in Goa starts immediately together with immediate steps to rehabilitate the land by the miners, and supervised by expert NGOs. With the bunch of imcompetents in power, Goa Government cannot be trusted to supervise anything ! When we achieved that, tackling all the other issues afflicting Goa will be a piece of cake! Yes, I am not jocking ! ! Carmen
