SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2024
TALLULAH D’SILVA
The elections are over. The same government is back, same faces, same leaders. More projects- highways, development, etc, have been announced with huge funding. Figures that don’t make sense anymore. Development that does not make sense anymore. Why? Because the evidences of climate change and the environmental destruction, we humans are causing, is staring us in the face and already killing people!
High temperatures of over 50 degrees Celsius have been recorded all across India. A whopping 10 degrees Celsius above the normal of 40 degrees Celsius in summers! This heat wave has killed dozens in India.
Avni Vishnoi, a young architect and environmental campaigner currently in Goa shares facts from a recent World Bank report about wet-bulb temperature and the human survival limit which is 31.5 degrees Celsius. She adds that India’s average wet bulb temperature is already at 32 degrees Celsius. Citizens are struggling to battle with this heat. There have been power cuts and water shortages that have further aggravated the situation.
She laments that as part of the Global South, we will continue to experience the worsening impacts of climate change and it is time not only to wake up but to take immediate action.
Avertino Miranda, Goa’s tree protector and environmental activist, has been trying to save trees in Siolim, Mapusa, Panjim and many more places from being axed.
He asserts that if Goa’s fast depleting tree cover is not restored, we will be doomed with water scarcity from low percolation and drying up of our wells and springs.
The members of the Khazan Society of Goa led by Environment Architect, Elsa Fernandes, have been crying hoarse about the number of cases of dumping of debris, garbage and mud in the Khazans around Panjim. If we do not conserve these lands, our only surviving unique flood management systems and the real climate resilience infrastructure that still exists today will fall apart and cause the submergence of nearly 80 per cent of Tiswadi taluka. Architect Hyacinth Pinto from Goa has been a long time campaigner for water and the need to clean and restore Goa’s man-made lakes and springs. Development has to be curbed around these areas, she has often advised and if effective buffers are not notified and monitored and conversion of land for construction near these areas are not limited, these life-giving reservoirs of elixir will be lost forever. The biodiversity and ecosystems too will be gone. Another young Architect and Planner, Tahir Noronha, has been raising a storm on rampant land conversions, flawed ODPs and illegal constructions. Goa is already on the brink of complete destruction. Currently there are nearly a 1,000 villas being built in Goa, all in Reinforced Cement Concrete and all having a swimming pool. All want a piece of Goa. All also want the peace of Goa.
Who will save Goa? Who will protect Goa? Will the politicians have a change of heart to protect their Mother and Goenchi Mati? Will the local sarpanchas, panchas, councillors and other representatives turn a new leaf and work for the welfare of their ward, village and city and instead of building smart villages and smart cities, focus on protecting and conserving all the already existing intelligent natural systems, resources and heritage that are the real assets and green gold given to us by Mother Nature and our ancestors as a legacy for the survival of future generations?
In these turbulent times it is so heartening to see young leaders emerging from the rubble of environmental destruction, that seem to hold up the light for all of us to follow. Have you heard of Mrinalini Desai, a very young Rudra Veena musician and student journalist from Konkan? She is barely 20 years old and was recently invited to perform for a private wedding for a tempting sum of Rs 5 lakh! She humbly declined, upholding her strong values and continues to participate in her social work of taking the work of Syamantak’s University of Life’s numerous community projects to greater heights.
She is deeply involved in water conservation initiatives, heritage conservation work as well as her own passion of taking music to the masses through the initiative of Saptaswar Baithak along with her mentors.
Have you heard of another gem, Samruddhi Kerker from Keri, Sattari? A self-taught and home schooled writer, artist and naturalist, she is a regular columnist in local newspapers writing in four different languages about environment, culture and heritage. She pens beautifully and vividly about the local flora and fauna and many traditions and culture associated with these. She is inspiring so many with her storytelling and her forest as the real school without walls.
Have you heard of the firebrand, just-out-of University, Kabir Naik? Back in school, he was already making short videos of interesting things he would see and find in and around Goa. Pre college, he was already making short documentaries, protest songs. Mollem marta ule, is still ringing in my ears. Kaju Gotto was another memorable documentary. In his college days at Delhi University and as a student of political science, he made many films and documentaries on climate change, environmental issues and even the khazans of Goa. His recent Sunny Side South initiative is his way of fighting for a different future for all. We need more young champions and torch bearers. Where are the rest of our youth? Where are the other brilliant minds and super disruptors? Waiting to hear their roar too!
(Tallulah D’Silva is an Architect and silver awardee of the Golden Door Award 2020 for truth and integrity)
