https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/time-to-gamble-on-casinos-for-mormugao/articleshow/63551171.cms
Nitin Gadkari’s characteristic strongarm tactics were on display in Goa earlier this week when the Minister for Shipping threatened the closure of Mormugao Port Trust (MPT), claiming a loss of 25 crores this financial year. Scorched earth gambits are routine for this ex-president of the ruling BJP. In January, he reacted even more strongly when the armed forces blocked his pet project for a massive floating jetty in Mumbai, saying “There is no Navy in Malabar Hill, so they had no right to deny permission. The Navy is needed to patrol the borders near Pakistan, not in South Mumbai. They [naval officers] came to request that land be allotted to the Navy in a prime area in Mumbai. I will not give them an inch of land.” In India’s smallest state, Gadkari complained “There are some people who are against everything. We need to think what will happen if the economy comes to a standstill. We should have an integrated approach to development and environment.” He also said, “Goa’s MLAs, ministers, bureaucracy will have to be more positive in their thinking. You are taking one-and-a-half years to complete such small jobs. The one working on the project is given so many shocks that he leaves the project and runs off. I am very frank and won’t hesitate to say this. I like people who get things done. Do not worry about this media. It is their job to write. Don’t be afraid to take decisions. If your conscience permits it do it, or else don’t do it.” In all this, the minister conveniently ignored the salient fact that various commercial activities have been curtailed at MPT only because of its own criminal mismanagement, and the constant failure to adhere to the most basic legal norms. Because of this, the Goa State Pollution Control Board was compelled to reject its own “grant of consent” and suspend coal handling. That’s only the latest lowlight in the irredeemably disgraceful record of the MPT, including recently allegedly illegally handling millions of tons of coal, and unauthorized dredging of the ecologically sensitive estuary basin. Earlier, when illegal mining flourished rampant, the MPT gleefully aided the unlawful export of thousands of crores worth of iron ore. As a result, Gadkari’s empty threat to close the port sounds almost like music to the ears of many fed-up locals. In this regard, the minister and all those in Goa relying on him to extra-judicially condone the unpardonable should pay close attention to the clear-eyed, unambiguous judgement of Justice Gautam Patel, and his landmark ruling against this BJP administration’s cynical attempt to move the western zone of the National Green Tribunal (which is responsible for Goa) from Pune to New Delhi. Among other nuggets of sheer wisdom, he wrote “If the NGT in Pune has so very many cases from Goa, it is not because — or not just because — the people of Goa are litigious; It is because they perceive that there is something of value here to protect… For this is something none can deny: this is a land truly worth fighting for.” The MPT has proven its incompetence and unreliability. It has damaged itself and its surroundings to the maximum extent possible. Any extension of powers will result in more of the same. Despite this, there does appear to be a solution for Gadkari’s challenge that “now you have to decide whether to run the port or not. If you keep on opposing everything, then how would we be able to support the port?” The readymade answer to solve these glaring problems is to immediately shift the casinos throttling the heritage Mandovi riverfront in Panjim, right across the harbour to Mormugao. Along with the steep increase in cruise tourism already underway - including a new connection to Mumbai - the combination will greatly benefit the MPT and local businesses, and dramatically reduce the pollution that plagues the port city. Of course, casinos can bring their own problems, and cruises also need to be carefully handled, so that significant benefits accrue to the host city. But focusing these two streams of potentially high-value tourists together in one location in Goa can only result in tremendous synergy that has the potential to transform Mormugao for the benefit of the entire state, while catapulting Vasco onto the list of most desirable international travel destinations. Always pragmatic, Gadkari should be the first to realize the wisdom of this strategy.