--------------------------------------------------- Do GOACAN a favour, circulate this email to your family members, relatives, neighbours and friends. Help CONSUMERS in Goa to be better informed. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- Documented by Goa Desc Resource Centre (GDRC) Email: [email protected] ------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------- Reassuring visit by Jairam Ramesh -----------------------------------
by Nandkumar Kamat Before I saw and heard him he was for me a thinker, popular columnist and critical economic analyst. But after experiencing him for more then three hours I could see that he is what he writes and believes in. There is no contradiction between his words and deeds, thoughts and actions. I have just returned after participating in a largely attended public meeting at Father Agnel Polytechnic, Verna on CRZ, 1991 improvement chaired by the Union Minister for Environment and Forests, Mr Jairam Ramesh. The meeting was third in a series in India on the report of the expert committee on CMZ 2008 notification. The government under a unique initiative from the minister himself wishes to listen from stakeholders and especially people from traditional occupations in coastal areas. Two more meetings are planned at Kochi and Bhubaneshwar. My first impression from the meeting was that the minister is his own man. He knows the business of his department very well and is keen to involve the people of India especially those who never had a voice in decision- making. The tasks ahead would not be easy for him but I could see that there is a degree of dynamism in the personality of the minister and he is willing to accommodate a cross section of ideas. Mr Jairam Ramesh is actually an engineer, a distinguished alumni of Mumbai’s IIT. Then he shifted to study public policy and management at Carnegie Mellon University. He has to his credit the experience in the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he studied technology policy, economics, engineering and management. Mr Ramesh helped to steer the course of Indian economic reforms from 1991 to 1997. It makes a huge difference when a public policy expert and economist with background of engineering handles the sensitive ministry of environment and forests. After taking over the ministry, the first important decision that Mr Ramesh took was to initiate action to abandon the controversial coastal management zone notification, 2008. Then he undertook important structural and functional reforms within the ministry beginning with revamping of the 18 years old CRZ. He made some important observations and announcements at Verna. Procrastination and Violation As the atmosphere in the meeting was heating up, he took charge to pacify the people who were expressing their scepticism about local administration. I’m sure that both the chief minister and the state minister for environment sharing the dais with him would profit from the meeting and carry important messages home. They need to appreciate the statesman-like maturity of Mr Ramesh in even accepting critical comments from the members of the public and accusations hurled against his own ministry. The Chief Minister, Mr Digambar Kamat who has excellent personal equation with Mr Ramesh was instrumental in arranging his visit. CRZ implementation in Goa has been very vague and the state has earned the reputation for violations instead of making a mark in eco-conservation. In its’ notification on Goa State Coastal Zone Management Plan, September 27, 1996, the central government had directed the state government to delineate on the maps LTL, HTL, 200 metres, 500 metres lines and other relevant lines in respect of creeks, backwaters and rivers affected by tidal action so that distances can be measured, whenever required. The politicians procrastinated to do any marking. After it paid the NIO more than Rs 40 lakhs to get HTL and LTL delineation in 2000, the work was stretched on and on for several years. The ambiguity of delineating HTL and LTL helped the violations. On top of this despite universal understanding of simple geographical and hydrographical entities–bay areas such as Bambolim, Siridao, Caranzalem, were deliberately marked as rivers and estuaries to give benefit of doubt to the private commercial interests. What the age-old Portuguese maps had marked as bays overnight became extensions of rivers or estuaries. Novel Reforms Mr Ramesh has promised many novel reforms. He intends to reopen the old idea of setting up green tribunals in the country. He aims to improve centre-state relations in the areas of environment and forests and in this regard he declared that he would fully support the efforts of the Government of Goa. From the way he conducted the meeting, listened to the members of the audience, made observations and comments it could be seen that unlike his politically motivated predecessors he brings in a new kind of down-to-earth professionalism in his ministry. His style would remind one of technocrat, Mr Sam Pitroda. But Mr Ramesh speaks with conviction and he readily provides the democratic space so essential for a dialogue with civil society. He listened to specific cases of environmental violations within CRZ and directed his officers on the spot to do the follow up. He even declared that these violations would be documented and made available on the ministry’s website. It is a different matter why the state government itself is shying away from doing the same. It has been pointed out to the union minister that Goa has a violent tectonic history. A large part of coastal Goa is a landmass emergent from the sea. Cities like Panaji are located in low lying areas and face danger of getting permanently submerged under worst case scenario of global sea level rise. About five per cent of landmass of Goa has been identified as vulnerable to submergence. There are no identified locations for rehabilitation of these potential ecological refugees. Goans Hopeful The minister asked the members of the public whether Goa could be made a special case for planning and providing ecological security. I attempted to draw his attention several times but couldn’t get a chance. I wished to tell him that the ecological fragile nature of Goa was fully understood by none other than Indira Gandhi in 1981 when she had directed the planning commission to conduct a special study. This was before the environmental movements in Goa were widespread. Public interest litigations on environmental issues were not heard of. The planning commission then appointed a task force under Dr M S Swaminathan. The task force submitted a report on eco-development plan for Goa, in March 1982. If Mr Ramesh were to go through this report, especially Chapter 8 on coastal area planning then he may be surprised to discover that even after 27 years we have been discussing almost the same issues because the successive government in Goa did not take the report of the task force seriously. Neutralisation of role of various king makers and powerful mafia elements from parallel economy is the biggest challenge for environmental governance in Goa. Mr Ramesh made an excellent impression on Goans who now look forward for some reassuring actions. ---------------------------------------- The Navhind Times 31/8/09 page 10 ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------- GOA CIVIC AND CONSUMER ACTION NETWORK ---------------------------------------------------------- promoting civic and consumer rights in Goa --------------------------------------------------- GOACAN Post Box 187 Margao, Goa 403 601 GOACAN Post Box 78 Mapusa, Goa 403 507 mail: [email protected] --------------------------------------------------- __._,_.___
