Thousands to show up at the 10am-7pm Mar 7th North Goa (Kala Academy) & South Goa (Ravindra Bhavan) hearings
By Gaurav Bakshi – Actor & Founder www.HelpdesQ.in
The Goa Government has been putting sincere efforts repeatedly to commit political suicide, full marks for efforts to them! Led by the dis-abled & lost Chief Minister, coterie of turncoat, selfish & self-serving ministers and MLAs, I suspect they will succeed sooner than later.
If the Covid lockdown miss-handling disaster, IIT fiasco, massively multiplying corruption, 3 linear projects environment-related mass protests, lack of action against illegal mining, poor infrastructure, stinking garbage problem (no pun intended), poor policymaking intellect, disastrous execution ability (of virtually anything) weren’t enough case in points, they now, under pressure from NGT and the Ministry of Environment, decide to put out a Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) that is ridiculously childish, is out to destroy the Coastal ecology of the State of Goa and will ensure massive legal complications for decades.
Hearing in 1 Day
The Government wants to finish off in 1 single day the process of public hearings that have taken the Government 12 full years to finally cut & paste a mindless draft CZMP. Ironically, it is impossible that any government official or politician will be able to explain even 1% of the CZMP without pulling his or her hair out, given the brainless & super complex draft. They’ve clearly given up and left it to citizens to help in hammering nails in the coffin of the Goa Government.
What is contained or missed in the CZMP?
Thousands are expected to attend the hearings on Sunday and voice their objections. Leading up to the hearings, dozens of panchayats (incl. Varca, Benaulim, Colva, Seraulim, Cavelossim, Carmona, and others) and lakhs of villagers have passed resolutions in their respective Gram Sabhas objecting to the draft CZMP. The arbitrary manner of this CZMP is a clear sign of incompetence and callous approach this government has adopted for even critical issues towards our eco-sensitive coastline. Ridiculous anomalies in this proposed plan include “missing or improperly mentioned villages, hills, sand dunes, fields, water bodies”, lack of incorporation of a single recommendation from credible researched reports (Simon D’Souza Report, Turtle Report, Khazan Report, Fisheries Report) or from the draft plans meticulously prepared by dozens of villages. These recommendations are not included despite the Reports being physically attached to the CZMP, in a clear deliberate act by our government. There is NO management plan for Khazans, Mangroves while Port limits are shows in the CZMP. Territories of fishing communities have been oddly shifted 500 mtrs away from the coastline. The report is laughable, and perhaps an act of criminal intent by the government against the environment and citizens.
What can citizens do?
- Educate all citizens around you about this CZMP
- Reach the hearings in large numbers
- Call, message and write to your MLA
- Approach courts to ensure the CZMP in its current form is not allowed
- Sustain your voice until the government retracts this CZMP
It is for citizens to ensure the government acts in our interest and more importantly in the interest of mother nature.
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www.HelpdesQ.in has found solutions to hundreds of government & legal complications for businesses and consumers, without a single rupee paid towards corruption, by removing fear and creating transparency never seen before in the government system. HelpdesQ on social media: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
Gaurav Bakshi is an Emerging Citizens Rights Leader, Actor and Founder HelpdesQ.in. Gaurav was co-founding member of the historic anti-corruption movement led by Anna Hazare. He has been seen on 150+ panel discussions and interviews on BBC Worldwide, CBC, CNN-IBN, NDTV, Star News and other national and international media. He is regularly invited as speaker at various institutions and conferences such as IIT, The INK Conference as well as political and social panels. Gaurav and his team work with India’s leading legal, governance and political advisers. He has an MBA from Georgia State University, USA and 15+ years industry experience in the US, Europe & India. As an actor, he has completed 175+ projects on TV, Digital and Print. (More about Gaurav can be seen on www.heldpesq.in/about). On social media: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter