FLY BY GOA, THE STATE'S COAST IS TRANSFORMING FROM GREEN TO GREY CONCRETE By Frederick Noronha
Fly by Goa, and you be in for a shock to minutely observe the changes brought about in India's smallest state over just three decades, as an innovative and recently-completed video documentation using hi-tech satellite imagery says. Padmanabh V Sathe is the unlikely man behind it. This scientist from NIO told this journalist: "Making a film has not been my work. In fact, this is the first and probably last film of my life." Sathe works at the Dona Paula-based National Institute of Oceanography (NIO). His actual work is on remote sensing of the oceans and coastal landscape. Says he: "My work involves participating in cruises (sailing on research vessels and surveying the seas), studying satellite images and develop new techniques to derive more information about the earth from satellites." But what's this unusual CD packed with images all about? In days when technology (both video cameras and CDs to reproduce) have fallen in price, does this show Goa a new path to build awareness about conservation? "What this (pictoral documentation) seeks to do is take a trip along the Goan coast and show what it looked liked in 1971 and how it looks today," says Sathe. Bridges, industrial estates sprawling across hilltops, small towns getting fast congested and destroyed sand-dunes are some of the features that emerge from Sathe's thirty-minute short-video, which is titled 'Fly by Goa: The Changing Shores'. "I'm not a film-maker. So the video turned out something different (from what was anticipated)," says Sathe modestly. But by juxtaposing satellite imagery -- a field he intimately works with -- on to video-shooting, he manages to make a point of how rapid coastal change is gnawing away at Goa. Starting the video-journey at the Kali river, in Karnataka just south of Goa, Sathe winds his way northwards. Some parts of the remote taluka of Canacona -- which has been opening up to tourism only in the last decade or so -- look like what they did in the 'seventies. Canacona incidentally is one of the few areas which has forest, mountain and seashore all in close proximity to each other. But the river Talpona's shoreline has "changed significantly", having progressed seawards. This indicates the deposition of new sediments. Rajbag's sandy beach is over 50 metres wide, while Palolem was once famous for its sand-dunes and since has got overrun by tourism. Many places have changed drastically. Tourist "shanties" of all types crowd Palolem beach in Canacona. On the other hand, there's the secluded Agonda beach -- near where a giant project unsuccessfully tried to come up, getting blocked by villagers and others. >From Canacona and Quepem's rugged terrain, we shift to the "flat and fertile" Salcete, starting with the fishing village of Betul. "In 1971, the landscape looked benign. Eastern sides of the shore were wooded. Population pockets were largely far away from the sea-shore," says Sathe, talking of the south Goa sea coast. What the Town Planning authorities should be doing, the people had already done. But that has changed in some areas. In Cavelossim village, high profile tourism activity is visible across the entire beach, and the video catches a mechanised shovel scoop out sand-dunes to be taken to waiting trucks. Benaulim too is beginning to "get crowded". Colva is crowded with built-up structures, while a parking lot is placed right on the sand, meaning that it is continuously covered by a layer of sand! One small lagoon on Colva beach, launched amidst much fanfare in the 1970s at Colva, is today treated as virtually a dumping site. Fatorda, a small village of the 1970s, is now visibly "changed" when viewed from the sky, due to its high-profile football stadium. Mormugao taluka has only two important beaches, the "environmentally-degraded Baina" and Bogmalo beach. Next, the video and satellite pictures take us through San Jacinto island, the recent Konkan Railway route, and the man-made the Cumbarjua Canal. Chorao island, outside Panjim, symbolises an equilibrium between man and nature, argues Sathe. On the other hand, the neighbouring island of Divar is facing erosion, and invading saline river waters. "Today, Divar appears to be sinking. The river is shall-owing," says he. Sathe believes the difference between these two areas is the presence of coastal mangrove plants in Chorao. Mangroves, one of the few species that grow in saline water, have a major role in protecting coastal zones. He also explains the formation of a 'sandbar' across the mouth of the River Mandovi, which blocks navigation of larger vessels for part of the year. Sathe believes that the argument from Konkan Railway re-alignment campaigners -- who wanted to shift the route away from the coast and claimed that reclaimed and low-lying 'khazan' lands would get affected -- wasn't quite valid. But cities too have changed due to congestion and chaotic over-building. "In 1971, I was a schoolteacher in Mapusa, and know what the town looked like then," says Sathe, after screening his film from yet another audience recently. He's referring to the small commercial capital of North Goa which is now an over-built town, thanks to a mix of the building boom and politicians ever-eager to make deals with corruption. Satellite pictures from the 'eye in the sky' clearly reveal how one-time villages like Porvorim have changed with "innumerable" housing complexes over the last two to three decades. "In 1971, the road to Mapusa was marked by wide open spaces on either side, with the absence of concrete houses," says Sathe. He points to satellite images which seen a confusing mix of varied shades of grey to the untrained eye. But Siolim village in North Goa "looks exactly as it was 30 years ago". This area still has a tree cover, which rises above most rooftops. "The fast pace of change has still to reach here," says Sathe. In the 1970s, the North Goa beach belt was marked by wide open spaces upto 500 metres from the high-tide level, even though there was no law then mandating this. "This is the ideal setting for a sea-shore," says Sathe. He also looks at what once was the Queen of Goan Beaches, "Calangute beach of today... rather narrow, crowded and ugly". Anjuna, the other north Goa beach village, once had two sand-dunes. "One has gone. If this carries on, Anjuna simply won't be a beach," says Sathe. "Once the sand dunes goes away, the oceanic forces will take over." Vagator, the north Goa beach, was once known for its "majestic sand dunes". Coastal Pernem has recently seen a tourism boom, but beach-shacks visited showed neither owners nor customers present at the time of filming. Mandrem village is "still pristine", says Sathe, and a fresh water creek still survives very close to the coast. In the Pernem stretch, Sathe points to ironies like a restaurant named 'Hotel Sand Dune', built on top of a sand dune. Coastal sand dunes are made up of sand piled high by the wind. These act as a barrier against the action of waves and tides, and protect areas behind them from wave damage and salt water intrusions during storms. Some three decades ago, the Terekhol river mouth in northernmost Goa was rather narrow. But today this north Goa river has a "pretty wide" mouth. Turbidity showing up in post-monsoon rivers, like the Mandovi, come largely from the North Goa mining belt. Sathe describes this as a "small video-film on Goa's societal environmental issues". To get the point across, the film uses satellite images and aerial photographs, plus location shooting. "The film is useful while making a point with the anti-environment lobby as it speaks of science of the coastline based on aerial photographs and satellite pictures rather than emotions and vested interests," argues the scientist. In half-an-hour, it discusses how Goa has changed in the past three decades. To make it widely accessible, the scientist has put across the film in VCD format and ordinary CD (which can be viewed on an ordinary personal computer with a large colour monitor). It can also be seen on video cassette. Sathe's point obviously is that the technology can be used to tell the truth, and outline the situation as it really is. It took Sathe a year to put together this video "mainly because of the shooting". He had to go with a videographer, to get just the shots needed to tell the story -- for instance, sand blowing in the face of passersby at the Miramar circle, an area which has been wrongly sited on the beachfront. Commented Dr Ligia Noronha of the Tata Energy Research Institute, after seeing the film: "There's a huge amount of information all based on satellite images (which is waiting to be studied)." "Changes are not over yet. They're taking place in broad day-light," adds the video commentary. It shows shots of luxury hotels being built in coastal Salcete, after precious sand-dunes are in the process of being demolished. "This is not a closed chapter. Anyone who's willing can take up this video and develop it further," is Sathe's open invite. Sathe has been working on satellite images for quite some time now, and says Goa has had detailed (1:25,000) pictures taken of its coastline in 1965, 1971 and 1981.(ENDS) Sathe can be contacted via email at [EMAIL PROTECTED] NOTE TO EDITOR: Pls carry this is a separate box alongside. Tks, FN INTERVIEW: FILM CAN BUILD AWARNESS ABOUT CONSERVATION IN AN AREA -- Sathe Frederick Noronha interviews the scientist-turned-film maker. Extracts: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- What was the aim of the film? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The aim of the film was to document the changes occurring in Goa's coastal landscape over the last three decades. The NIO (National Institute of Oceanography) had a large collection of aerial photographs of Goa during early seventies and satellite images of the year 2000 and beyond. This formed enough material to write a thesis on the "Changing shores of Goa". I realized that enough reports existed on Goa's environment, but these were seldom read by people. Instead, if a film was made it would have a higher impact on the viewer. Moreover, the changes had occurred around us in our own living memory. So, the viewer would be able to relate to the film at his or her personal level. Therefore, I decided to document them before the memories of Goa of early seventies evaporate from our minds. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- What response did the film evoke? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The film was generally well received by viewers. Every viewer wanted to discuss his or her observations of Goa's environment. Some viewers wanted the film to focus more on mining-related issues, while others thought that the film has not adequately covered CRZ violations. Yet others wanted the film to devote more length on the mangrove habitats of Goa. Some viewres from outside Goa were even inspired to make similar films on their regions and requested my help in their endevour. Inspired by the film, some of my students have already made similar short films on river Mandovi and Palolem beach as a part of their project work. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Has it been adequately screened across Goa? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- About 25 copies of VCD (video compact-discs) have been procured by various NGOs and academic instiutions in Goa. Besides, the film is being screened in different seminars, workshops and training programmes that deal with environmental aspects. During open days at NIO, the film is also shown to visitors. As an educational tool, the film is also shown to students of earth science, architecture, geography, and other related disciplines. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- What were the amount of resources spent on it (money, manpower)? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- We already had aerial photographs and satellite images of Goa that would cost around Rs 300,000 to 400,000. We also have an image procesing system at NIO that enabled us to process the satellite images for use in the film. NIO director Dr Ehrlich Desa was kind enough to sanction another Rs 100,000 necessary for location shooting, transport, hiring of professional cameramen and incidentals. Since I did not use any anchor person in the film, there was no expenditure on manpower. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Do you feel films like these could be an effective way of building awareness? Why, or why not? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes of course. I have always maintained that the film is not an end in itself. It is the beginning. Films usually attract people because of their audio-visual appeal. Viewer can relate easily with a film showing his or her own region because the viewer is familiar with all those places discussed in the film. The changes documented in the film have also occurred right in front of the viewer. As a result, making a film of our own place is sure to build awareness about its conservation. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Could you cite any interesting responses of people who saw the film? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Viewers generally appreciated the background music selected for the film. The Goan folklore suited very well while showing traditional occupations of Goa. Some of them inquired how to visit certain places shown in the film such as Keri (Querim) beach or Cabo de Rama or the huge sand-dunes shown. Viewers also appreciated the scenes of 'khazan' lands (reclaimed low-lands, worked on over centuries using age-old local technology) shot from a running train and sand blowing from Miramar beach straight onto the Miramar circle and accumulating in heaps. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The format is rather innovative. What inspired you into choosing this format, one which even the simple wo/man can understand? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I cannot say what exactly inspired me to choose this format. The complete freedom of work that we enjoy in NIO was responsible for thinking of innovative format for making a film of this kind. In fact, when I began my work, something else was in my mind. I just wanted to show how Goa would have looked while flying over it in 1970s. But finally what came out was an educational documentary. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- How long did it take you to put together this film, from conception till completion? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- It took me one year to study Goa's societal environmental issues and write a narration for the film. It took me another year to complete location shooting, select background music and complete editing the film. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- What point does the film make? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The film is a wake up call for Goans to conserve their heritage or whatever is left of it, and save it from crass commercialism. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Does Goa have enough of films focussing on its problems? If not, what are the factors that block this from happening? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I do not think so. Making an environmental film costs money and needs lot of efforts. One does not get financial returns from such films. Instead, if one invests similar efforts and money in some other venture, say, modeling, fashion designing or an ad film, one may get manyfold returns. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- If you had the budget, what other films would you like to work of as of now? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I would like to make similar films of regions that are not known to me. I would love to visit completely new places, say the Andaman islands or other islands in Indian Ocean, or any place in the world whose face is fast changing due to globalization and consumerism. I would like to study their societal environmental issues, study their mythologies, their music, collect old photographs, films, clips, depicting their original ethos and make a film on the way things are changing. Any new place in the world will be okay for me to make a film on. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Do give a brief bio-sketch of your other work... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Making a film has not been my work. In fact, this is the first and probably last film of my life. I am working on remote sensing of the oceans and coastal landscape. My work involves participating in cruises (sailing on research vessels and surveying the seas), studying satellite images and develop new techniques to derive more information about the earth from satellites. (ENDS) -- Frederick Noronha : http://www.fredericknoronha.net Ph 0091.832.2409490 Freelance Journalist : http://www.bytesforall.org Ph 0091.832.2409783 http://fredericknoronha.blogware.com Cell 0 9822 122436 ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
