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**** Annual Goanetters Meet ****
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Annual Goanetters Meet - January 3, 2012 - 12:30 - 2pm
Tourist Hostel, near the Old Secretariat, Panaji (Panjim)
Planning to attend? Send an email to eve...@goanet.org with contact details
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The end of the world is nigh!
By Venita Coelho
Repent ye! The Mayan calendar tells us that the end of the world is
nigh. 2012 is the year in which it is all supposed to go Boom, and we
already have the film to prove it. I hate to be disloyal to my species,
but for some time now I have been wondering if the world would not be
better off if we were suddenly and mysteriously wiped off the face of
the earth.
We are witnessing the largest mass extinction since the time of the
dinosaurs. We lose 137 plant, animal and insect species every day thanks
to the destruction of the Rainforests.
Dolphins in the Ganga are now blind from the pollution. Sharks are dying
in thousands because their fins are cut off for shark fin soup and they
are flung back in the ocean to die. Huge beasts like the Rhinoceros are
killed for nothing but their horns. We have mined, choked and devastated
everything around us.
Take a look at our own State.
If every human being vanished off the face off Goa, it would take a
couple of decades to wipe out the mess they have left behind.
There’s garbage everywhere; mines that have ripped open mountains and
poisoned river systems. Our beautiful beaches are now filthy with raw
sewage and mountains of plastic.
It would take decades to reverse the damage if we stopped right now. And
we show no signs of stopping. I have already begun to speak of beautiful
Goa in the past tense and I have been here only eleven years. I find
myself mournfully saying 'oh it used to be so wonderful.' Drive down
NH17 and look at the mountains of garbage dumped there in the night.
Walk down to Baga beach and breathe in the stench of decaying food, and
take in the sight of mountains of plastic bottles hidden behind the shacks.
Travel further south and look at the huge red gashes gouged out of
forest land by mining. Drive to Margao and just look at the huge
concrete blocks that are coming up at the edges of the city. Just one
decade and look what we have done to our land.
The Archbishop reminded us in his Christmas sermon that we are stewards
of this land. It is not ours to devastate, but ours to protect and
preserve. Another great man recently said 'Do not judge a people by
their past. Judge them by the future that they are trying to create.'
The future that a people choose to build for themselves is embodied in
documents like the RP2021. It is not just a plan – it is the template on
which the next 20 years of development in Goa will be built. Right now a
debate rages over whether it is a decent future for our State or not,
whether it does enough to preserve of protect. Look around you. The
state of Goa that you see right now has been built on the foundation of
one decade of RP2001.
For all those who are baying for RP2021 to be scrapped and the RP2001 to
come back - Do you really want to see that monster plan get an
extension? You won’t have to worry about the destruction of the world.
You yourself would have called it down upon your heads. (ENDS)
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First published in the Herald, Goa - January 4, 2012
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Protect Goa's natural beauty
Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve
Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php
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