MARGAO
The man who literally held the fort for the BJP-led government when the ruling dispensation weathered a series of storms on environment-related issues over the last four years since 2019 has been finally shown the door by the saffron brigade.
Be it the three-linear projects, including the contentious issue of coal, track doubling or for that matter the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP), it was the outgoing Minister for Environment Nilesh Cabral who had to bear the brunt of social activists and the public at large as his stint in office as Minister for Environment was marked by host of agitations and public protests.
Whether it was a deliberate attempt on the part of the BJP leadership or not to field Cabral to face the agitating public, Cabral had repeatedly come face to face with people on the streets at the height of the agitations, be it on the CZMP plan or coal handling at the Mormugao Port et al.
As the Environment Minister, Cabral had to do most of the talking on behalf of the government, often bringing him in confrontation with the people fighting on the streets, opposing coal, track doubling or the ill-conceived Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP).
Take the case of the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP). The CZMP presentation at the Ravindra Bhavan, Margao on July 27, 2019, Cabral came under fire from hundreds of Saxttikars as the people accused the department of environment for trying to bulldoze with the power point presentation.
After being heckled and booed by the irate protestors, Cabral had to beat a hasty retreat, with the police throwing a security cordon around him to ensure he goes unharmed to his waiting vehicle at the Ravindra Bhavan.
The historic November 1-2, 2020 midnight Chandor agitation against coal and track doubling project is another case in point. The agitation took place right in Cabral’s back yard, when thousands of Goans from every nook and corners of Goa, poured into Chandor to say no in one voice to track doubling and plans to make Goa a coal hub.
The irrepressible Minister had also come under severe criticism from the political class, accusing him for his adamant ways of handling the agitating social activists on behalf of the government. As Cabral finally made his way for Cong-turned-BJP MLA Alexio Sequeira, a senior politician remarked, “Politics is indeed strange. Cabral had to literally do the dirty job when he led from the front on behalf of the government to weather the storm at the height of the agitations on coal and track doubling or the CZMP. The very same Cabral has been shown the door by the same government”.
