In search of a litter-free Goa

Photo Credits: main piece

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The year 2012 was a turning point in the history of Goan politics. In the background was decades of political instability, 11 Chief Ministers in a row, state shamed by buffoonery and display of callousness on national media by political leaders, endless series of corruption scandals, abuse of the environment and de facto mafia rule change was inevitable. Finally, the average Goan citizen had decided enough is enough. The desperation was so much that the first time in Goa’s post-liberation history that Hindus and Roman Catholics came together to search for a messiah. It was a moment Manohar Parrikar was waiting for. All along since 1974, he had systematically cultivated an image of an articulate cerebral politician living in a small one bedroom flat and often riding pillion on a motorcycle of local partymen or walking alone from the Secretariat deeply engrossed in thoughts. Can’t blame only Goans as the entire nation was experiencing a generation change and the early arrival of 'American Style Individual Brand' based politics where promotion took precedence over policies and principles. All the same, the electorate did expect new leaders with the more modern holistic approach with acute sensitivity towards a delicate balance between man and nature. In short, a visionary leadership who completely breaks from the past and starts on a fresh footing in the globalised modern era.

Now, it is in a way futile to analyse how this five-time legislator of Panaji, which is the pocket borough of the BJP, managed to socially engineer a clever combination of GSB and elite Roman Christian alliance and upstage the dominant state-wide Hindu Bahujan Samaj to get BJP a clear majority. For the first time, five Catholics won in the assembly elections under the saffron flag.

In 2012, Manohar Prabhu Parrikar was the first IIT Graduate to become Chief Minister of a State in India. As a CM with a comfortable majority, long experience in both state politics as CM as well as opposition leader, Parrikar was expected to display the much needed new visionary, all-inclusive approach to statecraft and system’s approach to the state, its economy and politico-cultural issues. In short, start a new chapter in the brief history of Goa.

Let us just take two examples to illustrate how this simple and suave IITian failed to deliver on the economy and statewide solid waste management problem. It is no secret that all his predecessors have looked upon Goa as personal property with over 35 beautiful beaches, hugging the 105-km coastline and the backyard of iron ore mines hidden behind hills partly razed and used as garbage dumps. Need for an integrated public policy to manage the delicate balance between nature and human economic activities never occurred to Parrikar. Like his predecessors, he continued his focus on the two cash cows - 750-odd flights bringing in close to 200,000 tourists coming in every year and 1,000 crore of revenue from iron ore mines. For him "development potential" in Goa only meant providing housing for the very rich. A diversified economy, intergenerational equity in resource management, employment generation, social infrastructure or providing medical care to the needy never figured in his plan.

Today in 21st century Goa, there is neither a comprehensive beach management policy nor a beach management plan for a single beach. Unlike the carefully managed beaches in developed countries, there is no system for parking, recreation, access & safety, beach nourishment, title issues and beach maintenance. Instead, we have the most undisciplined beach parking where access is a hurdle race; overcrowded beaches are with members of animal kingdom like cats, stray dogs, and cows merry making besides hordes of fellow human beings among the rubbish of mix of beer cans, glass bottles, burnt out fires and fast food containers.

Instead, our Parrikar launches a regressive and patronising Ladli Laxmi Scheme, which touts on the official website its objective as “Giving Her a Chance to Live the Beauty of her dreams,” all in a one-time dole of Rs 1.5 lakh.

Secondly, Parrikar never bothered to understand one of the critical bottlenecks to the sustainable development of his State. “An integrated statewide approach to Solid Waste Development.” He never ensured that the Regional plans make any provision for garbage management despite statewide citizen protests. A civic activist has written in a newspaper report that, if you live in Goa's villages, chances are you burn your garbage in your backyard. Or worse, load it into your car and take it to one of the cities or a national highway to furtively dump it. And if you live in a town, the town municipality piles it into overflowing trucks to dump it in one of the nearby villages. The municipality vehicles try, nonetheless, to sneak into villages to dump the garbage. And despite at times violent displays of protests, the government is yet to identify a landfill site to dump waste generated by major cities. In fact, for the size of Goa, all that is needed is just one or two garbage dumps and a solid waste management system to process and deal with the trash. Or even a better approach could be decentralised village level vermicomposting plants which is not a rocket science by any standard.

But then came a clarion call (or order?) and for the third time, Manohar Prabhu Parrikar terminated his chief ministerial duty to rush to Delhi as Defence Minister. In the process, he also earned the distinction of three times not completing his terms thanks to defectors or benefactors. But the truth is he abandoned his post of duty. Trumpet boys like Rajdeep Sardesai, were in attendance to celebrate “Big day for my Goa. Two GSBs (Goud Saraswat Brahmins), both talented politicians, become full Cabinet ministers. Saraswat Pride!!” The talent that is seldom used in Modi regime. Because while during the felicitation function at IIT Roorkee, Parrikar boasted that being an engineer from the premier institution, he will negotiate till the last penny with French aircraft company Rafael. In the meantime, PM Modi had already placed order for Rafael fighter jets.

I am sure Parrikar must have seen at least on global TV media or in the serials like Baywatch and realised what is beach management in 21st century is all about. As regards solid waste management, he cannot feign ignorance about . Then the only explanation for such behaviour can be either lack or vision or apathy for state and its people or both.

Thanks to pliable media, a word in Hindi has gone permanently into Indian lexicon. That is “Bhagauda.” Now is the time to define it. Who is the real Bhagauda, the one who resigns on principles because he was not able to fulfill his promise to the electorate, or the one who abdicates his responsibility toward electorate for reasons best known to him.