Every forest, every green habitat, every river, every lake and every 'lung' of every city in India is being destroyed in the name of development. The impassioned pleas of "Save the environment atleast for your future generations" are falling on deaf ears. In Goa the seas will also be mauled under the guise of 'blue economy' with jetties, ports, cruise terminals, waterways, ship building yards etc. being planned by the Centre under the 'Sagarmala' and 'Sagar sey Samriddhi' schemes. This will also lead to the extinction of traditional fishing activity and the ramponkar community. And I won't even mention Section 39-A here. A completely uncaring middle class is turning a blind eye to this.The Bhakts are ecstatically rallying in support of this devastation and calling it 'progress'. This is what progress would look like 20 years from now : you driving on a spiffy 8 lane expressway in a car with the AC on full blast with your entire family wearing masks and shouting "Look that's a tree" when you spot one lone tree making a feeble effort to grow before it's cut down. We definitely have reached the point of no return, presiding over our own annihilation.
VINAY DWIVEDI, Benaulim
