NANDKUMAR M KAMAT
THIS is an issue on which I have been petitioning the Revenue Minister Rohan Khaunte since December 2017 almost every week. He has full powers under Disaster Management Act, 2005 to do public good. But despite all his good intentions and assurances, Government of Goa seems to be fiddling while plantations are burning everywhere- Canacona, Pernem, Ponda, Bardez, Sanguem, Tiswadi.
More fires are expected from this month till end of May. Most of these fires damage cashew plantations which, due to phenolic contents in leaves and wood, are easily inflammable. A major fire to cashew plantation a week and more than 100 recorded since November 2017 – resulting in loss of hundred thousand trees, rich dependent biodiversity, loss to economy and employment, damage to soil, deterioration of air quality, green landscape patches converted to black, charred zones like bombed battlefields and virtually dumb, blind, deaf, insensitive and unresponsive bureaucracy refusing to step out in field on Saturdays and Sundays and always more worried about paperwork- this is the picture that we see in Goa at present.
All these fires were preventable and controllable. Government failed to invoke the Goa, Daman and Diu Fire Force Act, 1986, Section 13. Preventive measures which says “(1) The Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, require owners or occupiers of premises in any area or of any class of premises used, which in its opinion are likely to cause risk of fire, to take such precautions as may be specified in such notifications.” Under this, all fire-prone public premises, industrial estates, educational campuses, orchards, plantations should have been notified. Under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, Section 22 (2), not less than 17 functions of state executive committee are specified which include- “ (b) examine the vulnerability of different parts of the state to different forms of disasters and specify measures to be taken for their prevention or mitigation; and (i) promote general education, awareness and community training in regard to the forms of disasters to which different parts of the state are vulnerable and the measures that may be taken by such community to prevent the disaster, mitigate and respond to such disaster.”
Governments in Goa are self-righteous, rigid, arrogant and vengeful. I found that irrespective of change in leadership, governments in Goa either led by Congress or BJP are fiddling since 2006 on wildfires. Minister Rohan must know that I never got a positive response from either any CM, concerned ministers or the chief secretaries since 2006. Here are excerpts of a note sent by email to chief secretary of Goa on October 17, 2006, with title-“A note on administrative steps to be taken to prevent/control the seasonal (November to May) wildfires in Goa causing tremendous economic losses, environmental pollution, respiratory health problems and public nuisance.” Reminding every government which followed 2006 had no effect, such was the insensitivity of the government as plantations continued to burn. I had mentioned in the above note that “The vegetation needs to be cut, removed, buried/composted before it dries up and catches fire. All these operations need to be supervised by an authorised person trained by the fire department. The steps which were suggested in that note included following-the government must direct the chief fire officer to issue notices to all concerned parties with large areas which have wild vegetation and have a chronic history of destructive widespread fires- such as All India Radio, Goa University, Goa Engineering College, military camps, industrial estates etc, which are prone to wildfires every year. These parties need to be given a month’s time (ideally before November 30) to clear all the inflammable wild grass and dry matter on a war footing. The fire officer must then inspect and verify the compliance. The fire officer must be empowered to call a meeting of all stakeholders to apprise them of the problems of wildfires and the measures to prevent
these.
The PWD (roads and highways) needs to take preemptive action to cut the roadside bushes, wild grass etc, which are prone to fire every year. The action needs to be taken first along NH-17 A and NH-4 A, and major district roads. Special attention needs to be paid to road shoulders near hairpin bends, U turns, and approaches to the bridges and culverts. The directorate of panchayats must issue a circular to all the village panchayats to clear the public areas prone to wildfires and also assist the comunidades to do the same on hill slopes prone to wildfires every year. Huge wildfires are caused in Goa’s forest areas. Many a times this fire spreads from the shoulders of the roads towards the interior forests. The forest department needs to identify areas prone to such wildfires and take preventive steps. It must also have contingency plans to deal with large-scale forest fires. Goa State Pollution Control Board is empowered to take action under Air Pollution Control Act. It must create awareness about the harmful effects of wildfires. The Goa police must issue a public notice warning the pyromaniacs or anti-social elements of stern action if they are found indulging in putting deliberate fires to wild vegetation and cashew plantations. The agriculture department needs to instruct the zonal agricultural offices to work closely with orchard/plantation (cashew, mango, banana) owners to maintain their areas free of wild grasses etc, which catch fire and cause economic losses.
The ZAOs must coordinate the clearance drive to save the fertile fire-prone areas. The State Disaster Management Authority must get the records from previous years’ newspaper reports and the fire department’s duty logbooks to prepare a wildfire map of Goa. The time and place of many wildfires can then be predicted. The directorate of information and publicity must launch an awareness campaign in both print and visual media to educate people and institutions on prevention of wildfires during the winter and summer. The government may constitute a state level-task force under the State Disaster Management Authority with representations of all above stake holders, NGOs and experts. The government must also open a 24-hour wildfire prevention and control helpline active from November till the onset of the monsoon.” The government declined to act on this note. (to be concluded).