The NGT order that the Captain of Ports halt the construction of the CoP Terminal building is to be ascribed to the single handed battle against this alleged violation of CRZ norms of late Dr Joe D'Souza, who left no stone unturned in order to shelve this contentious construction.
This temporary victory should now be followed up by those who regard Dr Joe as a martyr who opposed this project. It may be stressed here that Joe's health condition severely deteriorated during his struggle to get this project scrapped and thus Dr Joe should be equated with the likes of Matanhy Saldanha and late Fr Bismarque Dias who were champions for the protection of the environment.
It may be recalled that Dr Joe was deeply involved in being not only an activist, but pointing out a number of cases relating to environmental degradation which should have been protected, through his being a regular contributor to articles in the print media that highlighted aspects relating to the environment. It would be a fitting tribute if the CoP terminal building construction is scrapped as a posthumous reward for his fight against this contentious project.
