The headline Goyant Kollso Naka screams louder than the coal-laden trains that threaten to slice through Goa’s soul. On November 1, concerned citizens will gather at Lohia Maidan, Margao, not just to protest a project”but to defend a legacy.
For nearly a decade, Goans have raised their voices through petitions, public hearings, and peaceful demonstrations. Yet, the BJP-led government continues to bulldoze ahead with eco-hostile infrastructure that risks turning our beloved state into a coal corridor. This is not development”it is devastation disguised as progress. The proposed projects jeopardise our fragile ecosystems, threaten our rivers and coastlines, and risk erasing centuries of cultural heritage. Goa’s identity is not built on smokestacks and freight lines”it is carved from laterite cliffs, sung in the rhythm of the mando, and sustained by the harmony between nature and community.
The Citizens’ Movement calls upon every Goan”young and old, urban and rural”to unite at Lohia Maidan. This is not just a rally. It is a resistance”a reaffirmation that Goa’s future must be green, not grey. Let us not be remembered as the generation that watched silently as our land was bartered away. Let us be the voice that said: enough is enough.
