The infamous 112-metre-long casino ship is in Goan waters already, docked at berth no. 4, Mormugao Port. The CM says that it won’t be allowed to ‘enter’ the Mandovi (the river he calls his mother), while the court says it won’t be allowed to operate till all clearances are in place. The two statements are at odds with each other. The vessel doesn’t even have a marine survey clearance, yet it was allowed to sail all the way from Udupi to Goa. The casino company has hired the services of one of the most powerful legal eagles in the country. This will ensure that we have another monstrous ship sullying the Mandovi.
Other casinos will cite this precedent to ‘upgrade’ their ships size-wise/capacity-wise, and we will see more of these leviathans in the sacred river. In times to come, there will be no river left. The government knows fully well that this is a battle of attrition between the sarkar and Goans who have the best interests of the state at heart. It remains to be seen who blinks first. Eventually, the state government will have its way by hook or by crook. The new casino will be another nail in the coffin of the Mandovi. But I still have hopes of being proved wrong.
