We had two very important days this week : lnternational Day of Forests on Mar 21 and World Water Day on Mar 22. The former was to remind the people that forests are an integral part of water, shelter and food and the latter to raise awareness about the importance of water and to remind us of the need to conserve it. If the developments in my once green village Assagao are any indication, builders are the worst violators.
On the eve of the lnternational Day of Forests, one builder engaged a contractor and denuded a big orchard land with the help of cutting machines. On the eve of the Water Day when people of Assagao met in the Village Panchayat to seek solution to their water problems, two aggrieved citizens reported that a builder had recently completed a project of 12 villas in which he built 12 swimming pools, one for each villa. Ground water is a State resource but nobody has a check on it. So while the local people complain that they have no water to drink and cook, outsiders who buy villas enjoy swimming pools built for their swimming pleasure.
