In a surprise announcement on Tuesday, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said his government has decided to drop the Nauxim Marina project. He went on to say that there would be no public hearings on the project since the proposal stands shelved due to people’s opposition. However, in another interesting twist, the Advocate General appeared clueless on the government's decision to scrap the project even as the petitioners cited the CM's statements in the media. The High Court was hearing a petition challenging the jurisdiction of the MPT to lease water area for setting up of the project.
Nauxim Marina project is a very serious issue because people's sentiments and interests are at stake. The CM may have spoken his mind on his government respecting public sentiments, but such decisions have to be well-coordinated within departments, think-tank and the legal cell. Undoubtedly, pulling out of the controversial project is a prudent and welcome decision, but the AG who was clueless in the High Court should have been briefed earlier. It is ridiculous that such an important announcement comes on the sidelines of laying the foundation stone of the Administrative Complex of Accounts. Such sensitive issues need better handling. Departments and personnel involved have to be in sync, and each issue has to be taken to its logical conclusion.
The government, earlier this month, had announced its decision to shift the IIT project out of Sattari, bringing significant relief to the agitating locals of Shel-Melauli. However, the tricky land rights issue remains unresolved, and the many cases registered against protesters have not been settled. In fact, those who have been booked for attacks on policemen are frequently called to the police station and made to spend long hours without inquiry. There is no mediation to douse the embers of protests and frustration that continue to burn in the background.
The common thread that binds the IIT Project at Sattari and Nauxim Marina project is that both affect the lives and livelihoods of people in their respective areas. Call it a change of heart or mere political compulsions, both decisions on retracting from projects have to be commended because at the end of it all the will of the people has been respected. If the CM seeks to take forward his mission of Swayampurna Goem and win the confidence of the people he has to give the controversial issues a complete burial.
It’s time that the government makes peace with the people of Goa and re-draws its lines of development. Forming a committee to study the relocation of the IIT campus is the right move, and that should be the way forward for other major projects which are in the pipeline. Development and acceptability have to go hand in hand if Goa has to prosper.
