The government’s decision to drop Goa’s iconic palm tree from its definition of a tree under the Preservation of Trees Act “ somehow seems to have touched a raw nerve with most residents of this state. The coconut tree may never have been defined as a tree in the original 1984 Act, then found its way into a 2008 amendment for purposes of dealing with public nuisance and aged trees“but the fact is that its demotion into an undefined entity, undeserving of legal preservation, has not been viewed too kindly.
One estimate suggests that Goa has 40 lakh coconut trees, and official statistics have it that in 2012-13, the state produced 122.72 million nuts, that in 2014-15 went up to 127.77 million nuts. That may be besides the point, because in the new economy, it would seem that plantations must defer to industry of another kind.
Similarly, the same amendment resets a tree’s dimensions for the purposes of the Act, as that which is a metre from the ground, as against the previous 30 cm from the ground. It also sets its thickness as 10 cm to the original 5 cm. Botanists and agriculturists say this automatically keeps all young trees of all types out of the purview of the Act for preservation, since plants at two years are a foot high and only at 5 years would attain a height of one metre. This puts all shrubs out of the ambit of a tree (as defined in the above Act) for all time, they suggest, including such wild hillside trees as kanta. The hibiscus that never attains a girth of four inches or 10 cm is similarly out. The once ubiquitous cashew plant also finds itself in a similar position, until it attains the dimensions required only after fifteen years of its life. So young cashew trees and young forests are now devoid of preservative protection.
At any rate, what all of this does, according to environmentalists, is make it easier for realtors and investors to go ahead with projects, without having to deal with permissions for tree clearing, and potential challenges by NGOs. The latter have in the past successfully used the Act to wage battles against several projects and fight their green cause. That they too have been singled out for repeated adverse mention in the recent past, and dubbed as impediments to development, demonstrates that the government is fast tracking a particular model of development, and is unwilling to be stalled.
Announcements for potential Rs 10,000 cr road and national water way projects for Goa, made over the New Year foundation stone ceremony for the Rs 2700 cr Zuari bridge and national highway expansion project --- indicate plans that will lay the basis for a completely new Goa. Planners in the past have always favoured the city state concept for Goa. Infrastructure are force multipliers and the speed of road expansion in the state indicate an administration that is geared to doing its bit. Unfortunately, global markets, to which India and Goa are now hinged, whether in tourism, iron and steel, ore exports, or realty are too volatile and unpredictable to assure an immediate return on either government investment in infrastructure or public expectations of jobs/employment. Despite the lifting of all hurdles to mining, depressed international prices make iron ore exports unrealistic economically. The economies of scale now required to run operations have also changed the game for transportation and all the jobs that it once created in Goa. Automation and mechanization have already demonstrated that “jobless growth” current day economies, can lay waste to the most grandiose electoral promises, no matter who makes them. But they will be made anyway. And more so in an election year.
It was writer Jug Suraiya who once complained that the diminishing palm trees of Goa’s landscape gave a lie to the developer’s brochures hawking second home/holiday villas and apartments to unsuspecting buyers, drawn to the Goan allure of relaxed getaway amidst swaying palms. The buyers are still buying, but in a rapidly changing reality, there is dark irony that the iconic palm tree is now turning into a metaphor for loss.
Against this backdrop, the final outcome of the Regional Plan remains unclear. Those who hoped to deliver a plan that would keep in the maximum protections for eco zones and Goa’s green ethos, despair that too many changes may be brought about in the interim, before finalization , if and when it comes through. There is already the criticism that the Investment Board clearances can supersede planning demarcations. Nationally, environment laws that do not fit into business friendly mode are seeing changes in both law and implementation.
Clearly, planning for a new Goa is not about to be hamstrung by old laws. That is becoming increasingly clear.
