The Goa Town and Country Planning (Amendment and Validation) Bill 2024 was withdrawn, and part of the credit for it goes to the electronic media – read 'social media' – through which its adverse consequences were voiced and revealed.
The Bill, read between the lines, would cut through Goa’s ecology – destroy forests, cut hills and turn paddy fields into settlement areas. Not all of them, but a majority, and in a nutshell, the green Goa that most tourists come to enjoy would exist no more.
By withdrawing the Bill, the government has saved the stakeholders of tourism from being removed from a support system that most expected would cave in had the Bill been passed, for Goa without its green is landscape without oxygen.
Goa's development has seen massive changes in land use for the last many years, and it has been getting worse of late, with hills converted to settlement areas. With no hills, or hills with buildings, the charm of the land is being robbed.
The Bill, read between the lines, would cut through Goa’s ecology – destroy forests, cut hills and turn paddy fields into settlement areas. Not all of them, but a majority, and in a nutshell, the green Goa that most tourists come to enjoy would exist no more.
Based on statements made in the ongoing Goa Legislative Assembly, it is obvious that lakhs of square metres have been converted into settlement areas with villagers wondering from where builders would acquire water to keep people, living in those structures, in existence.
Mandrem MLA, Jit Arolkar, whose constituency nests a big market of tourists, clearly spoke of lakhs of square metres being converted into settlement, and the land converted was hills and paddy fields.
Mandrem is just one example. The area wanting to be converted is big, but as the minister said, the bite to the tourism industry would be bigger, as most tourists come to not only enjoy the sea, but the green that covers the land.
The sea, or beaches, in Goa have their own allure not found in most beaches of the country. To many, beaches in other states are better, and choices are personal, but what makes Goa stand out is the mix and match between the sea and the hills – a tropical sundae.
Strangely, there was not much noise in the print media when news that the Bill was going to be introduced made the rounds, and it was the activists who spoke out about the ill effects of such a bill.
The voice of dissent was hardly heard, or rather, was not made to be heard and to many, it looked like the Bill would just flow through in the Assembly without an iota of protest, especially with the Opposition being trampled over.
The sea, or beaches, in Goa have their own allure not found in most beaches of the country.
Activists and Goans took to social media strongly condemning the Bill. And within days, all messages were about the Bill and how, if passed, it would ride through the hills and forests, cutting everything along the way.
The voices began to be heard and they grew louder with each passing day.
Social media, they say, helps win elections. To many Goans, who were distraught, it was the social media that helped them get the same government, who wanted to introduce the Bill, to withdraw it at the last minute and with it, half the battle has been won.
The government's decision to prioritise the interests of the real estate lobby, which has its roots outside the State, over environmental preservation threatens to harm the very tourism industry that originally attracted the lobby.
Initially, tourists flocked to Goa to bask in the sunshine, relax on the sandy beaches, and enjoy the pristine sea. Over time, they developed an appreciation for the lush greenery and tranquility of the state, and many opted to establish second homes there.
However, this idyllic scenario has been disrupted by the influence of the builders' lobby, which is jeopardising the tourism sector that initially enchanted visitors with the natural beauty of Goa.