The talk at the foundation stone ceremony of the construction of CommonFacility Center (CFC) for Konkan Maritime Cluster at Verna Industrial Estate,Verna was about how Goa has scope to become a blue economy in line with theCentre's plan of a national economic push.
Konkan Maritime Cluster is the first Maritime Cluster of India set up by acorporation of Goan companies in Goa in a facility spanning across 14,380 sqmtland at Verna. The cluster aims at augmenting ship and boat building and marineequipment manufacturing in India. It provides a platform for ship designers andbuilders, repairers and equipment manufacturers with associated ancillaries.
Konkan Maritime Cluster could be a right step towards Atmanirbhar Bharat,providing a unique opportunity for growth. But this project cannot be abenchmark to measure development in other spheres. The call to take theshipping industry to a different level, with the manufacture of power speedboats that could go up to 100 nautical miles for fishing sounds exciting.Shipping is synonymous to Goa since decades, even before liberation, morebecause we are a coastal State and moves to take innovation, technology andresearch to the world is welcome. The promise it holds over generatingemployment to Goans comes as a bonus.
However, the argument of turning Goa into a blue economy by exploring riversand ports to further trade and exports while not looking at it through theperspective of coal transportation alone needs a broader debate among peopleand must find acceptability. The government has to put before its people ablueprint on the kind of trade it seeks to undertake on river routes and howthe State is going to benefit without any environmental damage.
Evolution and change can happen, but a responsible government must walk thispath together with the people of the State. Goa has its unique ecosystem, andhence leaders can't be drawing parallels with international destinations whichhave gone on the fast lane to development in pursuit of their own goals. Theidentity, habitat and livelihoods of traditional communities have to berespected, and any development which happens has to be inclusive of them.
The reason why there is Statewide opposition to river nationalisation is thatit threatened to ruin the essential characteristic of Goa, destroy its ecologyand displace locals whose livelihoods are dependent on these rivers. The chiefminister states that the government is ready to welcome textile, agriculture,fishing, food processing and various types of clusters in the State to boostthe economy and create employment, but what the reason behind industriesbacking out goes unexplained. On paper, we only hear of IPB clearing proposalsand the job potential these projects hold.
There has to be a drastic change in the government's approach to development.The ordinary Goan citizen has to be a part and parcel of any plans; otherwise,all the talk of the blue economy will remain as vague as a shadow.
