Tomorrow, February 14, is Valentine’s Day. The day is characterized by expressions of love and affection. However Valentine’s Day is not limited to romantic relationships and is celebrated with friends, family, community members and even pets and plants. One does not need to be in a relationship to be loved. In fact, one of the most important forms of love is self-love. This Valentine’s Day let us show our love for Goa. Our lovely state is at a crossroads. With deforestation, hill cutting going on unabated across the state, our green cover is depleting at a rapid rate. It is time to grow more trees and protect the existing trees from being chopped down. We need to clean the neighbourhood and more importantly not litter the surroundings. Our greenery, our fields, water bodies, hills, forests need to be conserved for future generations. We need to preserve the vast scenic natural beauty and paddy fields and swaying palms. We need to keep our beaches clean. The time to act is now. Valentine’s Day could be the most opportune day to take a pledge to save Goa from further destruction.
