Dears,
Can we come together to save our Goa, its land, greenery, streams,
waterbodies, birds and the bees?
Don't just nod your head ...speak up, write, post on the net ...be heard!
FOR EVIL TO FLOURISH, IT IS ENOUGH IF THE GOOD MEN AND WOMEN JUST KEP QUIET!
Mog asundi.
Miguel
Arwin Mesquita <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Dear All: Please see letter below from Ms Susan Casey which I have posted
with her permission. Regards Arwin.
Good afternoon to all at the Save Goa campaign,
I wanted to write a mail to you to express my support for your campaign. It may
sound a little crazy but I am also a resident of England and I have been in the
very fortunate position of visiting India and Goa for over 11 years now and I
not only feel outraged by the current situation in Goa posed by the
infiltration of so many tourists and foreign settlers but really severely
sickened. I know that not all foreigners arrive with a negative view and
influence and some really do feel the same as we all do here in this forum but
I cannot express my sorrow and apologies enough to the Goan residents for the
severity of the situation both ecologically and culturally due to the demands
of the ever growing tourist sector.
I adore Goa and its people as I do India as a whole but my recent visits to
Goa have left me with a very bad taste, and this I may conclude is not due to
the influence of Goans but from the negative influence of my fellow man
visiting from various parts of Europe and the westernised world. And yet with
every visit I make to Goa the evidence is laid bare with more and more land
being converted to apartment blocks and hotel / housing projects at an alarming
rate that the scene is only set to worsen. The situation has upset me so much
that I decided to devote my major university project to the documentation of
the negative effects felt through over and irresponsible tourism practices
within Goa, both on an ecological and cultural basis. My project looked not
only at the coastal belt but at the blatant destruction and demise of important
ecological niches and cultural inheritance across all areas including the Goan
interior and as far as the majestic Sahyadris.
Unfortunately the supermarket culture of the UK and other westernised countries
is encroaching into your homestead and I urge you take action before it is too
late. The very reason that people began to flock to Goa was due its incredible
display of natural beauty in all its varied and diverse forms along with the
wonderful susegad lifestyle. In this whimsical world we live, once the natural
beauty has expired due to degradation caused by the ever increasing demands of
the tourism industry the tourists themselves would never return. This may sound
over the top and melodramatic but unfortunately, and I am ashamed to say that
this is the mantra of a huge percentage of our society as ours is increasingly
delving into the deepest depths of a throw away society / lifestyle. I know
that with a healthy tourism sector money comes too, but as time passes more and
more international chains and foreign investments are taking over the market in
Goa and as they do the demise of local
industries goes hand in hand. Who is actually benefiting from this
infiltration?
I hope to return to Goa for many years to come as my experiences, mainly away
from the coastal belt still leave me intoxicated by the beauty and warmth
displayed by the nature and incredible people of Goa. Please do not let my
countrymen spoil the beauty you behold, it is far too vitally important on so
many levels to let that happen. Allow the beauty which Goa beholds to shine out
for many years to come; please do not allow it to become another statistic as a
ruined and rotten place which was once so much more.
On a biodiversity point your species richness within the state of Goa is
really quite phenomenal but already it is massive decline again partly due to
the influence of over and irresponsible tourism with its destruction and
fragmentation of important habitat sites, excess garbage contaminating ground
water and killing marine and terrestrial species and wasteful energy
consumption. Goa has well and truly exceeded its carrying capacity and without
careful reconsideration of how to build its future the future could look very
bleak indeed. It is up to us all to provide safe and protected areas for all
species to thrive, the beaches, forests and hills which are now effected were
for thousands of years home to other species other than man himself, we should
all respect this fact and help in this plight to provide protection at every
level.
I thank you for your patience and I wish you every success with this campaign.
Kind Regards
Susan Casey.
Yorkshire,
England.
--
Please read my Blog:
http://arwinmesquita.wordpress.com/category/goan-identity/page/3/
--
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