Kerala governement deserves appreciation for this right decision.acres of land
is wasted in cities for the interest of some elite groups. I think other states
should follow Kerala government in this regard.
regards
Sreenivas
bangalore
Kerala Tourism Watch <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Joint Statement from KERALA TOURISM WATCH, EQUATIONS & KABANI – the
other direction
http://keralatourismwatch.org/node/99
Close down Trivandrum Golf course and withdraw all proposed golf
projects in the state
Statement urges Kerala Government to abandon the Trivandrum golf
course. It should be converted as a public bio diversity park for
conservation and education. Abusing the public resources for
protecting the hobby of few vested elites in the city can no longer be
permitted.
06/06/2008, Thiruvananthapuram: KERALA TOURISM WATCH a coalition of
civil society activists and local communities, EQUATIONS and KABANI –
the other direction, has urged the Kerala government to wind up the
Trivandrum golf club and abandon its golf course. The coalition
believes that the environmental and social impacts warrant a more
fundamental approach of dissolution rather than changing the ownership
from private to public.
The golf courses are being increasingly brought in to focus due to the
environmental and social problems that they engender. Everywhere in
the world golf courses have been a major threat for local communities
primarily in terms of uncontrolled ground water depletion. Trivandrum
golf course for example has been reportedly consuming lakhs of litres
of water every day to maintain the grass turf. Conservative estimates
by various international agencies show that an 18-hole golf course
would consume 50 lakh liters of water a day, enough for nearly 10,000
families in a state like Kerala. We must remember that the water
consumption by the Coca cola plant at Plachimada had been 5 lakh
liters a day. It is hardly surprising that the arrears towards water
charges of Trivandrum Golf Club ran in to several lakhs of rupees. At
a time when the common people in the city face acute water shortage,
maintaining a golf course with direct and indirect state subsidies
violate principles of social justice.
The argument that the golf courses would promote tourism in the state
is completely unfounded. While we are critical of state's tourism
policies in general we would like to point out that this argument is
particularly flawed. Studies have shown that tourists visiting
destinations in developing countries including India belong to the low
spending segment of international travelers. It is unlikely that they
will be interested in golf. Alternatively golf courses will not be an
adequate incentive for high spending travelers to visit destinations
in poor countries. Allowing golf courses to flourish disregarding
their environmental and social impacts will only serve the interest of
the local elites.
We understand that the government has been forced to take over the
golf course in Trivandrum due to repeated failures on the part the
club to comply with the administrative, legal and social requirements.
However, taking over the club from its current leadership while the
space could continue to be used as golf course will not bring any
fundamental change.
The coalition demands that government should take back this valuable
property and sees this opportunity to convert it into a bio diversity
park. The coalition strongly condemns the attempt by club authorities
to use the tourism façade to legitimise their elitist biases and
vested interests.
No more golf courses should be allowed in Kerala while the existing
ones should be immediately closed down. In this connection we demand
the closure of Trivandrum and Kochi golf courses and shelving of the
proposed one in Nedumbassery. We note with extreme concern that the
Nedumbassery project involves land acquired by evicting local people
in the name of Nedumbassery international airport. Tourism department
and government of Kerala should pay attention to the concerns raised
by national and international movements which oppose golf courses on
environmental and social grounds.
The coalition would initiate a state level campaign with the support
of civil society organizations to highlight the harmful impacts of
golf courses and for abandoning all golf course projects in the state.
EQUATIONS - 9447079763
KABANI – the other direction - 9388402948
Kerala Tourism Watch – www.keralatourismwatch.org
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