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http://www.GOANET.org
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Happy New Year Twenty-Ten
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What Are We Waiting For?
Squeezed between the calamities of tourism and mining, Goa is on the brink,
says CARMEN MIRANDA, as she calls for change
http://www.oheraldo.in/pagedetails.asp?nid=31766&cid=14
As 2010 dawns, ending another decade, Goa’s
destruction continues unabated, driven by the
greed of a few people inspired by an economic system that has enormous
shortcomings, such as the environmental crisis that threatens to engulf us
all.
We could have been the lucky ones, living in Goa with a pristine
environment, enjoying the simple things in life, enriched by an idea of
prosperity and happiness that did not know the hunger of consumerism that
dominates society today and which comes at an enormous cost to planet Earth,
and a deadly cost to Goa.
Goa, ‘the Pearl of the East’, among the smallest states in the country,
could have been a jewel in the crown of India – a model of sustainable
development that valued and cultivated its unique environment, culture and
traditions which sustained and guided countless generations. It could have
been an inspiration to the rest of the country.
Instead we ended up with a Goa which has lost its ‘pearl’ while being
stripped from its lush forests and disembowelled by mining operations, and
cursed by the worse kind of tourism one can imagine, fuelled by sex,
gambling, drugs and crime.
Our biggest misfortune has been the unscrupulous and ignorant politicians
with a misguided approach to development who have dominated politics for
decades and whose governance amounted to protection of narrow interests, an
assault on Goa’s dignity, traditions and environment, an assault on its
capacity to provide a happy, prosperous and peaceful existence. We have been
fooled into believing that this is the road to progress, but it has in
reality been just a long rugged path of decline.
Economic growth has become an end in itself, and the narrow business
interests of building contractors and mining barons have become sacred,
riding way above the interests of the rest of the population. Why?
Why do they have more rights to destroy the environment which is vital for
our survival than the rest of us, who want to preserve the fine ecological
balance of nature, and who know that our real wealth is in our irreplaceable
forests and biodiversity, our water resources, our fertile agricultural
land? What about our right to fight for our survival, and mitigate the
impact of extreme weather episodes that are about to hit us hard as result
of climate change caused largely by business and industry?
The environmental destruction has been justified as being in the pursuit of
‘sacrosanct’ economic growth – a myth that has spectacularly failed and
enslaved society, and failed the fragile ecological systems on which we
depend for survival.
Fortunately the search for an alternative to current destructive economic
model is on, and already producing interesting sustainable possibilities,
more in tune with the limitations of a finite planet. The sooner we accept
them and put them into practice the better. But first we must challenge the
status quo which is threatening our very survival.
Meanwhile Goa, ravaged by greed and irresponsible governance, lingers on
precariously, between the Arabian Sea that is beginning to engulf its
crowded beaches and the ever-increasing number of denuded gigantic dark
brown dusty craters of the mining belt. Squeezed between two calamities, the
Goans will soon have nowhere to run…
It’s obvious that many fellow Goans are aware of and fed-up with what is
happening in Goa. Their criticism of the politicians in power has been so
relentless that if the politicians had any shame and conscience, they would
have by now resigned and gone into hiding!
But they cling on, and the list of blunders continues to grow, together with
the list of measures that need to be taken urgently, before Goa reaches the
point of no return. It is these measures that we need to concentrate on. We
need to be clear about what we would do differently in Goa if we were in
power, and we must be careful to avoid the pitfalls and perceived
developmental needs that have misguided successive governments.
Given that criticism has not budged the culprits an inch nor moved them into
changing their ways, I ask you: are we going to continue being merely
helpless spectators of the destruction of Goa, or are we going to say ENOUGH
IS ENOUGH! – and actually do something about it, such as offering or even
imposing alternatives?
How can we move forward from just writing about it, into some concrete
action that will provoke a radical change? Are we going to get organised,
and get down to the busin
