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Sangath, www.sangath.com, is looking to build a centre for services, training and research and seeks to buy approx 1500 to 2000 sq mtrs land betweeen Mapusa and Bambolim and surrounding rural areas. Please contact: [email protected] or [email protected] or ph+91-9881499458 http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2009-July/180028.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Why you should care passionately and worry like mad ….* * * Why, you may wonder, someone living in a mansion in Margão, should care or worry about mining in Sanguem? Or why someone living in trendy Campal in Panjim, should worry like mad about the deforestation in Goa or anywhere in the Western Ghats? Why should we all care and worry also about what the mining industry is doing to Goa? Can we do something about it? Oh! Yes! We can! …no! please don’t stop…continue reading!.... and don’t think for a moment that the mining issue only concerns the villagers being devastated by the mining activities in the interior of Goa! Surely, we all want to bequeath to our children and grandchildren a Goa that is lush and productive instead of a Sahara desert; instead of a Goa which will turn into just one great sandy beach for the tourists with a long line of old casino boats stuck in the muddy waters of a dying Mandovi river….….surely we want to bequeath something other than the nightmare that looms on the horizon – the devastating effects of climate change!? and for that matter, the devastating effects of incompetent government ? All these things are connected – climate change, mining, Margao, Panjim, deforestation, Western Ghats, disappearing beaches etc, are all part of one system, one environment, one climate and one planet. And we are all responsible and we can and should all do something about mitigating the effects of climate change and the effects of imcompetent governments. The mining activity which devastates forests and the aquifers in Goa are endangering the way of life and the very survival of thousands of people in Goa. Goa may well be rendered uninhabitable if this trend continues, because trees are climate regulators, help the filtration of water into aquifers, control erosion, purify the air by absorbing carbon monoxite, sulfer dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, and contribute to biodiversity and so on. So if forests are being turned into scrub land or worse, as trees are cut for mining , we also will eventually go. We are literally cutting the branch we are sitting on for the sake of short term profit making of a few. What happens when the mining ore is finished (within the next 10 years pehaps?) and all there is left in the interiror of Goa is a desert? So, when all trees go as result of mining activities like in Sanguem for example, Margão and other parts of Goa will feel the impact in the form of shortage of water and temperature rise and health problems and so on. Campal and other coastal areas meanwhile will be flooded with the rise of sea levels with climate change given that the Oceans are warming about 50 percent faster than reported two years ago, according to latest scientific findings….so it seems , we will be able to see the impact sooner than imagined. Mining activities and cutting of trees exacerbate the effects of climate change. And if the mountains of Western Ghats are denuded of trees, it will affect its capacity to attract the clouds that form the monsoon rains. Without the monsoon, there will be no water for drinking or agriculture and therefore there will be food shortage. Goans have done it before and quite recently when dealing with the Regional Plan – they got out of their balcão chairs and showed the Government of Goa who has the ultimate power to stop and change things. People’s power indeed ! But to mobilize public opinion, people need to be educated and informed about many more urgent issues , as there are some things that need more urgent ACTION then others, such as things that can’t wait because of their irreversible negative effects – and one of those things is the mining in Goa, that needs to be urgently regulated and controlled and when possible banned all together specially from the forested areas. The Goa government needs to be brought to task about their irresponsible and incompetent governance when dealing with forest conservation and mining….and everyhting else by the looks of it!.... Is the Government of Goa scared of the mining mafia or are they simply in their pockets? Why don’t they act? The law is on our side if they want to bring the miners to task! Oh! Yes! One must be a complete idiot (that’s me!) to expect anything positive and intelligent and informed from our politicians…. Well, I don’t expect anything from them, but from you fellow Goans! You the people! You can surely do it again ! Immediate action and reaction and protests about the behaviour of the mine owners and government imcompetence needs your attention, action and reaction for the reasons I have explained. It will eventually affect all of you in Goa, even though you cannot yet see the connection. So we need to get organised and show them who is boss! I am willing to help with anything and in anyway I can and look forward to a great challenge! Carmen
