In his Visit and interaction/public hearing on CZMA at the auditorium of Agnel Polytechnic, Verna, on Aug. 30, 2009 the Hon. Minister for environment and forests, Mr. Jairam Ramesh declared-" anyone in audience may write to me why Goa deseves a special case" .
Within a few hours I dispatched him the following note and marked the copies to Goa government. Further action on this note is awaited. (On the request of the Hon Minister for state (independent charge), Ministry of Environment and Forests, Shri Jairam Ramesh, Govt. of India) From:- Dr. Nandkumar M. Kamat, Vice Chairperson, Mahadayi Bachao Abhiyan (MBA) , And Asst. Professor, Dept. of Botany, Goa University Taleigao, Goa, 403206 August 30, 2009 To, The Hon. Minister for state (independent charge) Environment and forests Govt. of India, New Delhi. Shri Jairam Ramesh Sir, Thanks for your deep interest and love for Goa. I could see that you left an indelible positive impression on the audience. Many powerful dignitaries had been to Goa but for the first time in many years I heard voices of optimism and hope from simple folks who had assembled at Verna. Congratulations! Touched by your sincere approach and dynamism, I’m responding to your request in the public consultation held today at Verna to submit some points to make Goa’s case special. I’ m submitting a quick list of a few points on basis of my own personal studies. I’m also attaching a separate paper ( a pdf file) on Goa’s environmental tragedy for your perusal. *A note on considering Goa as a special case -an ecologicallyfragile/ecovulnerable state.* Once upon a time the Vijayanagara emperors who ruled for a short period had declared Goa as the capital of Konkan-“Goabhidham-Konkanarajadhanim”. But the Goa of today has accumulated many negative externalities. A single major ecological catastrophe may tilt the balance and finish what remains. On several accounts, Goa can be given a special ecological status To cite a few:- 1. Seismically vulnerable state:-history of Goa is very complex. The landmass has undergone three major folds and violent tectonic changes. The west coast fault runs close to Goa. The state is crisscrossed by six geological faults. It is due to geodynamic activities that Goa is endowed with a beautiful undulating landscape. However that also makes Goa geologically vulnerable. 2. Peculiar hydrography vulnerable to small swings:- The distorted courses of western flowing rivers in Goa shows tectonic influence. Not a single major river flowing through Goa has its’ source within the state. So being a lower riparian state, Goa is extremely vulnerable to interstate water disputes. 3. What came up may go down : -Goan landmass is a mosaic of submerged and emergent parts. The emergent parts indicate deposits of marine fossils-corresponding to fall in sea level by 4-6 metres about 6-8000 years before present (YBP). Marine fossil beds are located near Mapusa river, Chapora river, Chicalim, Siridao, Bambolim etc. There is every possibility that this process would be reversed by global warming and sea level rise. Expert studies by Dr. Rajiv Nigam are available at NIO. 4. State most vulnerable to sea level rise:-A large part of coastal Goa is at or below sea level. This is also densely populated. A TERI report has estimated that about 5% of land mass of Goa would be submerged in this century. That makes Goa the most vulnerable state in India in terms of impact of global warming on land cover loss. 5. A vanishing repository of traditional ecosystem engineering and technology:-Very few states in India inherit a tradition of self governed village communities like the ancient ’gaunkaris’ (communidades) in Goa. At the time of Goa’s liberation there were 225 communidades. Goa needs a special status to conserve and preserve the ecological and community assets (numerous ponds, lakes, embankments, sluice gates, drainage and irrigation canals etc.) created by these institutions and theirtraditional ecological and technological knowledge. A massive effort is required for rejuvenation of traditional knowledge and its’ integration with appropriate modern technologies. This is not possiblewithout Goa having a special ecological status. This may be considered as “ traditionalecotechnological argument’. 6. Moving towards a water deficit state:-The deeper reach of tides in the nine major rivers of Goa creates salinity conditions which don’t permit construction of large storages like dams unless precious forest areas are sacrificed or large settlements are disturbed. Two minor dams-Anjuna and Selaulim were built in the western ghat talukas before EPA, 1986. technically it may appear that a lot of rainwater is going to waste. But the truth is large storages are not possible in freshwater zones of the rivers. This is the reason why permission was denied by MOEF to Mandovi irrigation project in western ghats taluka of Sattari in north Goa district. Considering the water demand projected till 2050 A.D. Goa is actually a water deficit state. A resolution of Goa legislative assembly has recommended the state government to declare Goa as a water deficit state. 7. Highly urbanized state in India, a victim of unsustainable urbanization:-On basis of percentage urban population Goa ranks first in India as per 2001 census. By 2011 census urban population may reach 60% with high density in coastal and midland talukas. Between Mumbai to Mangalore this would be densest population pocket. Goa needs sustainable urbanization and if it gets a special ecological status then concept of ‘ecological city’ could be introduced here. 8. A vanishing tropical paradise of south-south agrobiodiversity :-As compared to any other state in India, Goa is a special case in exotic agro-horti-floricultural biodiversity because of the exotic plant species ( more than 200) were introduced by the Portuguese. There are not less than 30 local varieties of chillies in Goa. More than 10 % cultivars of mango in India are found in tiny state of Goa. This is a legacy of Portuguese art of grafting popularized by the missionaries. Central government needs to give Goa a special status to protect, conserve and preserve this precious genetic diversity now well adapted to tropical conditions. 9. A state which has not internalized massive negative environmental externalities:- Goa may have accumulated per capita the highest negative environmental externalities on account of open cast iron ore mining since 1946-7. One measure of this is the quantum of low grade ore dumped as overburden or ore reject. To mine a tone of Iron ore two metric tone of overburden needs to be removed. The cumulative ore reject piled up in more than 50 villages is already more than 5-600 million metric tones or per capita 30-40 metric tones. Another measure is annual rate of sediment flow in Mandovi and Zuari rivers. From the mining dumps the sediment reaches the rivers at the rate of 2-2.5 lakh MT per year in Mandovi and Zuari rivers. This makes Goa’s case special on environmental and ecorestoration grounds because the rising concentration of heavy metals in food chain is ecotoxic. Very soon there could be a situation similar to Arsenic poisoning in west Bengal. Ecotoxicity studies from Goa University and NIO had already warned about the dangers. 10. A public sanitation nightmare:-Only three out of 45 census towns of Goa have modern sewerage plants. Goa has already entered the ‘danger zone’ in areas of public sanitation. 11. A state with scarce land resources:-After accounting for 1200 sq. kms. of forest area, 1650 sq. kms of good agrohorticultural (irrigated and rainfed) area, the small state would be left with only about 800-900 sq. kms of area for any future developmental and settlement planning. Future population growth would have to be crammed within this limited space. No buffer zones are possible around any of the industrial estates. This is a critical picture- as compared to any other state which have surpluses of land and lower population densities. If change of agricultural and plantation land use is permitted then it would impact precious life support systems and endanger ecosystem services- a fact which might have been overlooked in the past. 12. Grooming the hen which lays the ‘golden eggs’ for the country :- Tourism in Goa has become a money spinner for the country as about Rs. 10-11000 crores of foreign exchange earnings in 2008-09 were from about 0.4 million foreign tourists visiting Goa. Sustainability of tourism would depend on ecological integrity of the state. If the state fails to maintain the basic ecological standards then the tourism industry may fail. Therefore central government needs to accord a special status to Goa considering its’ overall ecofragility, need to conserve the remaining habitats and biodiversity, guarantee ecological and water security. There are many other points also such as only state in India to practice common civil code, fully secular society, rich cultural diversity of the state with 50 folkforms etc. but these may fall beyond the scope of the present note. Submitted for your kind attention Nandkumar Kamat -- Dr. Nandkumar Kamat, GOA