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Problems in paradise: a plea to save Goa

Maria Aurora Couto

The Goan way of life and the State's environment are under threat from unchecked and unplanned `development.'

ON DECEMBER 18, 2006, the eve of the 45th anniversary of Goa's Liberation, more than 10,000 Goans gathered at the Azad Maidan in Panaji in a powerful and spontaneous protest. They were contesting a Regional Plan that has allowed builders to terrorise villagers and flatten hills for construction with impunity, empowered by a system of wilful and covert collusion with those in power, be they politicians or officials. Not since the 1980s, and the opinion poll when Goans rose to demand a separate State with Konkani as the official language, has there been such unity, passion, and outrage expressed. Then it was anger at plans to make Goa an appendage of the large neighbour, Maharashtra. Today it is fury at seeing their environment and way of life degraded and destroyed.

There are several issues that agitate the Goans — waste dumping grounds, pollution of wells in villages, uncontrolled construction with scant attention paid to our delicate ecosystem that makes Goa the paradise that draws everyone here, the lack of basic infrastructure for the massive flow of tourists and migrants each of which equals the population of Goa. However, all these issues have coalesced to focus on the Revised Regional Plan, which was notified in August 2006 without any transparency that would allow citizens to understand what the revisions entail.

The Goa Bachao Abhiyan, Save Goa Campaign, is being led by a group of committed social activists who demand that the Revised Plan be revoked, and that the process of planning be reformulated to include the views of local bodies and the people of Goa. On the stage were doctors, teachers, retired civil servants, musicians, social workers, and representatives of religious communities.

In his address at his annual Christmas reception where most of the members of the Cabinet were present, the Archbishop of Goa did not mince words when he described the need for integral human development and the increasing number of revolts from grassroots citizens disillusioned with those in power: "These are indications of an increasing disconnection between the aspirations of the people and, shall I say, the private plans and the pet projects of those in power. It appears to us that the underlying problem is the erosion of moral and ethical values among many of those who have been elected to the Legislative Assembly as representatives of the people. The common cry of the Goans nowadays is that selfish-minded politicians, in connivance with corrupt bureaucratic officials and pliant law enforcers, are out to sell Goa to the highest bidder. In the process, genuine human development is neglected and the Goynchi Asmitai — the Goanness of Goa — is exposed to the risk of being obliterated."

The first Regional Plan in 1987, drafted by well intentioned architects of integrity, left loopholes that allowed wily politicians, builders, and other interested parties to manipulate the system and violate environmental and other regulations. Writ petitions filed against such violations had limited success and it soon became apparent that law enforcement authorities were either lax or connived in the wanton misuse or destruction of land. Successive governments did little to stop the erosion of forest cover, destruction of sand dunes, and the nesting places of turtles in the rapid expansion of tourism and the hotel industry.

Goans watched with mounting anger excavators move into areas used by village populations for centuries, ripping apart land, tearing down trees, terrorising villagers. Slow anger has now turned to a passionate campaign. Details of the Regional Plan 2011 revised and notified in August 2006 were revealed in an exhibition organised painstakingly by architect Dean D'Cruz and his team. It illustrates concrete jungles replacing green hills, agricultural land converted to settlement, absence of garbage disposal, very little attention given to basic needs such as adequate power, sewage treatment, water supply, public access to beaches and community places — areas in which planning is of the essence.

It has revealed the following startling facts. Some 75 million square metres of land has been taken over, for conversion into ugly concrete plots in the future on beautiful landscapes of rivers and hills, in five months without public knowledge. The following are some of the locations:

Baga (a prime and once pristine location in the North Goa beach belt): 52 hectares;

Bambolim and Siridao (villages bordering Panaji): 110 and 51 hectares;

Calangute hill (North Goa beach belt) 42 hectares;

Canacona (Loliem-Polem in South Goa ) 400 hectares;

Cortalim and Quelossim (Zuari river violations ) 55 and 71 hectares;

Reis Magos and Nerul villages (across the Mandovi river from Panaji) 170 and 45 hectares;

Mandrem, Morjim, Chopdem (North Goa) 206, 120 and 65 hectares; and

Tiracol and Querim (North Goa) 95 and 34 hectares.

It is true that Goa aspires to be a modern State in many ways. Unlike some specially protected States it has been a kind of open house in keeping with the welcoming and, some would say, trusting nature of the Goan. The special features of Goan cosmopolitanism, environment, and way of life are the main attraction. One would have thought that the main thrust of planning should have been to protect and preserve these qualities manifested in the exceptional continuum of town, village, and forest. Measures once planned included the coastal regulatory zone (CRZ), and protected forest areas.

All these have been swept aside with semantic jugglery, which has abandoned estuaries, the very foundation of Goan culture, and forests in public land now designated as orchards, to make way for the greedy grasp of global capital involving national and international players. Besides, land has been sold at far higher rates than prevalent, which means builders will extract the maximum profit with constructions bound to exceed FAR and Floor Space Index norms. This excessive exploitation for ultra luxury residences will be a drain on ground water and electricity.

Such avarice was almost entirely absent in the first few decades when Goa attracted new residents who bought and lovingly restored old houses or built new ones in keeping with the spirit and aesthetics of the place. This was investment in a way of life. The Save Goa Campaign is not for a closed-door policy but demands a healthy planning process where people have a say.

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