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No more tears for the trees of Campal
Ethel da Costa
Let me jog your memory cells….
300 odd people bobbing along the streets of Campal. Paper festoons, banners
decorating the sidewalks. Though a protest march, an air of festivity hangs in
the air. Nandkumar Kamat singing off-tune into a microphone looking straight
into a video camera. Mario Miranda and Alexyz doing on-the-spot cartoons and
caricatures of awe-struck kids (some grown-ups suffering from regression too).
Little children hugging trees to a pop of flash bulbs. Isabel Santa Rita Vas
directing her band of talented actors on the scene of the crime, who are
expressing artistic horror of the tree trunks facing extinction. Patricia
Pinto hob-nobbing among the city’s junta. Lucio Miranda shaking hands with
architects and society types. Victor Hugo Gomes beaming smugly on the virtues
of preserving Goa’s village brass bands and loudly proclaiming to all those
willing to listen, on how he got this act together. Rajan Fulari and his artsy
crew displaying the paint dribbling posters enthusiastically put together by
eager children. Heta Pandit discussing the heritage value of the trees in
question. Editors, reporters, file-pushers and chamchas alike looking for the
right sound bytes to make next day’s headlines (or gossip rounds)…….
This column has no intended malice. Except the truth. So, grit your teeth and
bear with it.
Politics sucks. People politics sucks big time. But hey, wait till you meet
the growing breed of activists who indulge in people politics to highlight a
`cause’ and then forget all about it once they get what they want – FREE
PUBLICITY. Get their pictures in the papers, make the right sounds at the
right time, with the right people and few days later everything is forgotten.
I have been talking to a couple of sensible people (their breed is small,
disillusioned and fast dwindling) who agree that its time we blow the whistle
on the `cause pushers’ merely mouthing words, some with no intention of
keeping them. From their silence, I have every reason to believe that they
have been forced to develop an acute condition of amnesia, by virtue of the
special positions they now enjoy. Too bad for them, because its time lay
citizens knock these sorry creatures into action. Beginning with a `NO’ to
their lop-sided schemes.
I’m talking about the `Save the Trees’ campaign which saw active participation
from people in Panjim and outside, all coming together to stop the axes intent
on cutting the life out of the century old green giants, currently lining the
road between Kala Academy and Miramar. Not so many months ago, irrespective of
the blazing hot sun, emotions ran high as green soldiers came pouring in from
Panjim, Margao and far Anjuna – artists, musicians, celebrities, actors and
agenda pushing low levels thrown in for good measure too -- in a peaceful
protest to stop the senseless slaughter of these beautiful trees. Everyone
promised to protect, preserve and cherish them in song, verse, colour and
commitment. Me included. I still stand by my word. I want to know what
happened to all the others who promised to do the same.
Today, the very same trees that we hugged and our children painted as their
way of protest, face a death warrant yet again. This time for certain.
Development must extract its pound of flesh. This time the tree-butchers come
armed with legal paraphernalia. That’s what file-pushers and governments are
for, right? They must leave their symbols of self-proclamation for posterity.
On sponsor boards, on name plaques, the hall of fame decorating government
offices… How else can they make space for all those fancy wheels, they and
some of us, keep acquiring with black money laundering? Well, even as we mull
over this tragedy in the middle of eating our morning cornflakes (and
hopefully choking on it) some of our green giants will soon be cut down
systematically and their age old corpses flattened with tar and mortar in the
name of development. When I sought to find out more, I was told that "a
meeting will be convened shortly to discuss the same." I learn that the
official version for the benefit of the Press also makes light of the
situation with a casual by-the-way explanation, which being `10-15 smaller
trees may have to be cut. We’re moving within legal parameters, but we’re open
to minor adjustments’. This also comes close to the heels of those who have
encroached upon government land, but I say rap them good, but leave our trees
alone.
I’m not a city girl by birth, but I chose Panjim to be my home. I grew up in a
tiny hillside town amidst trees and birds, feeling the song in the rain and
the chirp of birds early dawn. I have many pleasant memories of a childhood
spent under the canopy of old trees that have seen several governments coming
and going. They still stand firm, despite many storms and rainy evenings. When
I go back to my village, it is these trees that hold a special place in my
heart and lighten the burden of my mind, with their comforting, stately
presence. Not the haphazard urbanisation which politicians and their `yes men’
pass off as development.
I suppose readers will agree to the fact that we are all living examples of
the city we live in. And hence, her distress must translate into our distress
too. Don’t we keep telling our children that trees save our planet from
burning up. And don’t you agree that the best method to instill a value into a
society is to live by example? Sure, politicians plant trees. In all the wrong
places, most of the times. Like a couple of hopefuls I recently saw cutting up
the capital’s already narrow streets and planting young saplings, bang
opposite commercial shops. This, when we also bemoan the lack of parking
spaces! You and I know that a lot of money has been spent on making our garden
spaces look pretty. Will these fall under the axe too when someone suddenly
decides to keep step with urbanisation, bustling population and ever growing
traffic, so let’s build some ugly roads now?
I am still not convinced why Panjim needs a four-lane road, and if she must,
then why at the cost of our green cover? Can’t urbanisation co-exist with
Nature? Because if we don’t learn to co-exist, our cities won’t last the
vagaries of time.
We cannot deny that it is human interference alone that has caused the ruin of
Altinho hill. We cannot deny that despite our best efforts we still have no
answer to control our cities from flooding every monsoon. Same with malaria,
garbage, water logging etc. Our political predecessors never planned the
city’s needs in earnest. When there’s big money involved, even sincerity flies
out the window. While the efforts of a handful few may be commendable in
applying mind over malady – and staying away from immediate greed -- we have
still failed to understand the core issues that affect our cities, because
patchwork development don’t provide long term solutions. We must apply
intelligent thinking without succumbing to pressures of short term delivery,
because the scars show up soon.
I sure do have a motive behind this piece. The motive is simple: To save the
lungs of this city that ensure our steady supply of oxygen and are responsible
for our quota of rain, because not all of us suffer from memory blackouts. I
can’t say the same holds true for today’s new band of activists. But then `favours’
sure do have a way of silencing even the best of intentions. And people. It
seems this sickness is now claiming a few I earlier had faith in.
Ethel da Costa
July 8, 2003
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