Tourism: Off to a bad start?
A free for all along the state's party coast, a mining challenge and citizenship conundrum all in this week's edition.
Hi folks,
We meet again after what has been (yet another) rainy week in Goa, but one that wasn’t necessarily short of action. From the surprise demolition of illegal shops along the highway in Mapusa to the Chief Justice of India touching down on the shores of Goa over the weekend to inaugurate a much-delayed court complex for the North Goa District Courts, much has happened in Goa, so let’s dive straight in.
Let’s begin with the latest first.
CJI in town
Chief Justice of India Dr D Y Chandrachud, who is soon to demit office, was down in Goa for back-to-back events. He addressed the inaugural session of the Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association (SCAORA, yes, it’s a mouthful) conference that got underway on Saturday, launched a book penned by the Goa governor on the traditional trees of India, and inaugurated the complex for the North Goa District Courts.
There were a lot of speeches and a lot of platitudes thrown about that you can watch here, here, and here, but I would like to highlight just two things. For one, the Chief Justice said he was “remarkably impressed by the development that is taking place in the state of Goa.”
“The philosophy of this beautiful state is that it embodies a tranquil attitude towards life that has come to define the beautiful state. But every time I come to Goa, I too feel like leaving my worries behind. But while being impressed by the continuing serenity of the place, I'm also remarkably impressed by the development that is taking place in the state of Goa. Every time when I visit Goa, I see something new that is happening. I can notice that the state of Goa is truly on the path of rapid economic and social growth. Economic growth and social transformation,” were his exact words.
I’m struggling to think of what he could be referring to. But since he stayed in Panjim, had an event in Benaulim in the morning, and returned to Panjim in the late morning, I’m thinking it must be the Zuari bridge. To be fair, the structure is quite impressive to look at. What else is new since he last visited in December 2022? Could it be the new Mopa airport that he, in his judgement of January 2020, gave the final go-ahead for after lifting stay on the environmental clearance? Perhaps it is both.
The other point of note, as far as Goa is concerned, from the three events was the 'request’ from Justice Abhay Oka of the Supreme Court that was echoed by the Chief Justice—to use the old Liceu building that functioned as the High Court building for the longest time to set up a Judicial Academy for Goa (Goa is the only state to not have a judicial academy) as well as to use the same premises for an international arbitration centre on the lines of those in Dubai and Singapore.
In the words of the Chief Justice, “We can possibly create Goa into a hub for international commercial arbitration. A large number of Indian companies are moving to the Dubai financial centre or to the Singapore International Arbitration Centre. Why is it that our own companies are moving outside India? Because we have failed to create good spaces for them. I do believe that Goa, with its global image, everybody in the world knows about Goa, can truly become a global financial (he probably meant arbitration) centre.”
A request from the Chief Justice is no small thing. As such, expect plans to be drawn up. This is nothing new either; it was being talked about as far back as 2010.
Free for all along the coast
To the start of the week then—actually to the end of last week—Saturday night to be precise—when three young veterinary doctors—two young men and a woman—got into an altercation with the staff of a shack at Candolim at around midnight. They ended up getting whacked.
Now, the story of what happened there changes depending on whom you ask. According to the victim doctors, they were assaulted with bamboos and other weapons, causing them bleeding injuries after an argument. If the shack owner is to be believed, it is the doctors who started the argument after they were denied drinks and began creating a ruckus.
Two shack staff were booked and arrested.
The same night, two persons, natives of UP, were arrested after they allegedly asked a local woman her ‘price’ and asked her to accompany them. Cue pandemonium on the streets.
The third incident was outside a club at Tito’s Lane Baga, where two boys were allegedly assaulted by ‘bouncers’ of a nightclub following an altercation. Following a gathering of locals at the Calangute Police Station, three persons were arrested, the nightclub was sealed, and the police inspector was transferred.
Not a good start to the tourism season, said Michael Lobo.
But the one who really remained silent was Goa’s tourism minister Rohan Khaunte, who, at one point in time, was very vocal on the functioning of the Calangute Police Station but who hasn’t said much ever since the then Police Inspector in charge of Calangute, Dattaguru Sawant, was transferred and replaced by Naik.
An inquest followed. The Chief Minister promised to increase night patrolling, to ask open-air establishments to shut by 10 p.m., and to hold meetings with stakeholders ahead of the tourism season.
But what’s common among all the three events is the fact that the people concerned were more than eager to take the law into their own hands—perhaps under the bona fide impression that it’s the better option rather than calling the police—something for the state administration to think about.
Mapusa mayhem
The Mapusa Municipal Council demolished about 35 illegal structures at the Carrasco vaddo (Karaswada) junction that were abutting the road and causing traffic congestion. The demolition of the illegal structures was carried out by the municipality and was covered extensively by the TV media. But the videos that you should be checking out are those of Shekar Naik, a Youtuber and citizen journalist whose raw and unedited videos (though they are quite long) tend to give a full picture of the situation. It is through his videos that I got to know that a bulk of the illegal shops along the road were actually erected by the Vice Chairperson of the Mapusa Municipal Council, who quite shamelessly had no qualms about appearing on video and making no bones about his illegalities.
Shouldn’t he be disqualified like the Arambol and Anjuna sarpanches/panches were disqualified by the High Court for allowing and profiting from illegalities within their jurisdiction? Or is that law only for village panchayat members?
Citizenship: Nothing to worry, says Carlos
A word on the notification issued by the Union government extending the powers granted to the two collectors to conduct enquiries in cases of people accused of holding dual citizenship.
The notification caused much consternation and confusion among some, who were wondering what it was all about.
As Congress MLA Carlos Alvares Ferreira explained in a video, this notification is merely an extension of powers already possessed by the two collectors—to conduct an inquiry and submit a report to the central government if there is a complaint against someone for holding dual citizenship.
So far till date, there’s only one person who has faced a complaint and against whom an inquiry was conducted: Adv Aires Rodrigues, who is now in Europe enjoying the benefits of his Portuguese passport.
But the bigger issue is that the sword “dual citizenship” continues to remain unresolved despite Manohar Parrikar having promised to resolve it back in 2014, no sooner the NDA came to power. None of it has seen the light of day. But then again, it was the same BJP that also promised special status ahead of the monumental 2014 parliamentary election. -- something they quickly disassociated from no sooner they came to power.
Updates from the picket lines
The people in Sancoale are up in arms this time against their own village panchayat for failing to decide on a show-cause notice the panchayat had issued to the promoters of the Bhutani mega project coming up on what was once marked as private forest in Sancoale.
A harried panchayat decided to refer the reply for legal opinion while the sarpanch and deputy sarpanch left the meeting while the people were demanding a final decision in the matter.
It’s a developing story, so this is hopefully not the last you’ve heard from it.
The other piece of good news is the National Green Tribunal admitted two petitions challenging the environmental clearance granted to Vedanta’s Bicholim I mining block. Now Vedanta (which bought the mine from Dempo in 2008-09) has been operating the mine ever since then. As such, the mine has been operational since 1941 until it was stopped in 2012. Yet they applied for and secured an environmental clearance, claiming that it was a greenfield mine. That, among other issues, will now be argued before the NGT thanks to petitions filed by activists Swapnesh Sherlekar and the Federation of Rainbow Warriors, whose respective petitions have been admitted by the NGT.
Sunburn (or rather the promoters of the event) have also decided to take several opposition politicians, media houses, and others to court alleging defamation of their brand, which has contributed to them being rejected from village after village. The latest is that they have secured an interim restraining order. This isn’t the first time they are doing it, and don’t expect that it is the last you will hear about this. Stay tuned (pun intended).
A parting shot
A final word on the shack owners of Goa. For years they complained that the tourism department was slow in allocating shacks to them, leading to delays in setting up the shacks well after the season was underway.
Well, this year, the shacks were allocated early, permissions processed, allowing them to build their shacks early, only for them to be washed away by the rising waters of the Arabian Sea that are yet to settle down after the monsoon season.
They cannot just catch a break (nor their floating deck beds that are being pulled away by the currents).
That’s all I have for you this week. Hope you enjoyed reading this week’s edition of my newsletter as much as I did writing it. Make sure you interact, comment or write in, should you have something, anything to say.
As always, please share and help spread the word. Until next week, then. Tchau!
Not a word on ecological destruction...considering he is serving his last days, better tow the line, I guess.