Seeds of Dissent Budding Along Goa’s Quaint Belts Against ‘Projects’

As Goans have been awakening to know more and more about ‘projects’ that are bound to take away the state’s identity, steam of togetherness has been developing along Goa’s most tranquil and peaceful stretches of Majorda to Cansaulim, and is now spreading across the cities and towns. 

Yesterday, across community lines, people gathered in Majorda to show their solidarity and support against the ‘infrastructure projects’ proposed by the government that will rip away the state’s biological diversity, along with the cultural heritage that the state has richly possessed since years. 

Along with the backdrop of fresh ready paddy fields, local groups, citizens and even two political leaders from across party lines gathered for an ‘awareness campaign’ against the proposed projects. 

The authorities informed the actual venue owner not to host the meet, however, the spontaneous venue of the fields, amid a dull evening, sparked flames of togetherness and community safeguarding, prompting people to speak their hearts out about the projects that are of ‘no benefit to Goans at all’. 

Goencho Ekvott, the posterior organization in this movement, had this awareness meet with an aim to spread about the consciousness among local Goans about these projects and the whole deliberation about ‘coal’ through the state. 

The prosed projects, if all pieced together, makes for a ‘coal corridor’ plan, with zero benefits for the state’s local populations. Furthermore, the nexus between large company giants such as Adani and Jindal were also highlighted to the people. 

Pressure from authorities to cancel the meet didn’t deter the spirits of the people, as, despite the rain and cancellation of the venue, people gathered – with adequate protocols of social distancing guidelines and usage of masks followed. 

The ruling BJP’s MLA from Nuvem, Wilfred D’Sa pledged his support to the people and has said that a joint meet with railway officials and the people must be done. 

Curtorim MLA Alexio Reginaldo Lourenco was the other leader, from the 14 invited, who participated in this awareness campaign. Opposing the coal corridor through the state, the MLA also said that ‘future generations should not suffer because of coal’. 

Meanwhile, Cresan Antao, convenor of Goencho Ekvott also spoke about projects and its effects on the state. He, along with the organization, has been moving from village to village to create an awareness about these projects. 

Besides several other speakers, locals from across the state made their presence felt amid the dull rainy evening. With a strong support, the movement against these proposed ‘destructions’ of Goa, is only going to amplify in the coming weeks.  

Amid the open meet in the fields in Majorda, another meeting in Mollem among locals and PWD Minister Deepak Pausekar and Power Minister Nilesh Cabral took place in Mollem village. Claiming not a ‘single bird will die’ due to the proposed power line, the PWD minister said that ‘some social activists are creating unnecessary issues out of it just to oppose the project’. Locals however were adamant about having the project shifted out from this area.

The Author : Ronnan Da Cunha