Are the coal handling and river nationalisation issues the brain-work of a few individuals with vested interests, trying to spread misinformation? Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar thinks so. Is there any truth to the chief minister's belief that people from outside Vasco have been activated to fight these issues? The coal issue continues to burn and throws up more questions. Can Goans fighting for issues affecting a part of the state be labeled as outsiders? Who are these outsiders whom the CM is referring to?
The chief minister who is in the midst of a raging battle over coal has ignited yet another debate. His contention is that the issue had long been settled when his government wrote to the Ministry of Environment and Forests to shelve coal expansion plans at the Mormugao Port Trust. However, going by CM's letter dated 14th August 2017, it is clear that the government has chosen the middle path and tried to defer the inevitable. The letter suggests that it may not be prudent to consider the proposal until the level of particulate matter in the city is brought under the stipulated standards. The chief minister has also indicated that there are technologies available for controlling such pollution and that the port authorities should be directed to ensure that air quality meets the prescribed limits before considering their application. This clearly suggests that there is a conditional clearance from the government and nowhere does it indicate that the State government has said a brutal ‘no', as earlier indicated by the CM.
It was only last week that Parrikar went on record to state that the quality of air in the port town has been brought under control and gave out results of test samples at key places in Vasco. The results may be encouraging, but would undoubtedly leave an uneasy feeling in the minds of those involved vis-a-vis the looming coal plans. Furthermore, if coal plans are shelved why is the infrastructural work for expansion still going on?
The coal issue has an outsider angle too. Parrikar must now activate his "intelligence" force to study the outside forces which he claims are involved in opposing coal handling and "creating an issue out of nothing". In this context, the outside people obviously would be from Goa Against Coal, the Congress party, villagers from Salcete, Quepem and Bardez and the several villages where citizens strongly raised their hands in unison across gram sabhas to fight the coal plans. An ex-defence minister's intelligence report that some outside forces are acting on this issue cannot be snubbed, for this could well be a trendsetter where Goans fighting for their issues could be compartmentalized and labeled as "outsiders" in future. Every Goenkar has the right to fight for issues that are related to the state, no matter which part it comes under, without being labeled as an outsider, and every Goan has an equal right to fight for Goenkarponn.
The chief minister who is in the midst of a raging battle over coal has ignited yet another debate. His contention is that the issue had long been settled when his government wrote to the Ministry of Environment and Forests to shelve coal expansion plans at the Mormugao Port Trust. However, going by CM's letter dated 14th August 2017, it is clear that the government has chosen the middle path and tried to defer the inevitable. The letter suggests that it may not be prudent to consider the proposal until the level of particulate matter in the city is brought under the stipulated standards. The chief minister has also indicated that there are technologies available for controlling such pollution and that the port authorities should be directed to ensure that air quality meets the prescribed limits before considering their application. This clearly suggests that there is a conditional clearance from the government and nowhere does it indicate that the State government has said a brutal ‘no', as earlier indicated by the CM.
It was only last week that Parrikar went on record to state that the quality of air in the port town has been brought under control and gave out results of test samples at key places in Vasco. The results may be encouraging, but would undoubtedly leave an uneasy feeling in the minds of those involved vis-a-vis the looming coal plans. Furthermore, if coal plans are shelved why is the infrastructural work for expansion still going on?
The coal issue has an outsider angle too. Parrikar must now activate his "intelligence" force to study the outside forces which he claims are involved in opposing coal handling and "creating an issue out of nothing". In this context, the outside people obviously would be from Goa Against Coal, the Congress party, villagers from Salcete, Quepem and Bardez and the several villages where citizens strongly raised their hands in unison across gram sabhas to fight the coal plans. An ex-defence minister's intelligence report that some outside forces are acting on this issue cannot be snubbed, for this could well be a trendsetter where Goans fighting for their issues could be compartmentalized and labeled as "outsiders" in future. Every Goenkar has the right to fight for issues that are related to the state, no matter which part it comes under, without being labeled as an outsider, and every Goan has an equal right to fight for Goenkarponn.
