Something is rotten in the state of Goa

GOA, a tiny state on the western coast of India, is the land of my ancestors, who were Hindus. My maternal grandmother told me that our distant ancestors had arrived there with the sage Parshuram, who had fired an arrow that struck the fertile land of Goa, following which the Goud Saraswat community has been living there for aeons.

The last time I met my grandmother was in 1952, when I arrived at her home unannounced with my books to prepare for the UPSC’s civil services examination. She stayed alone in her huge house with an old woman for company and to cook her meals. I arrived after dusk. To my surprise, all the doors were open. Murders and thefts were rare in Goa in those times.

Goa has progressed into a state comparable to any other in the Indian Union, alive in a sense that it is afflicted by crime and corruption. When the colonial rulers, the Portuguese, were driven out in 1961, the state was merged into the Union of India. The two core services, the IAS and the IPS, were introduced and the judiciary reorganised on the lines of neighbouring states.

At first, the local inhabitants were very happy. The new rulers were among their own and till the casino culture gained prominence in Goa, disaffection with those who ruled was minimal. The Congress gave way to the BJP, which ensnared most of the rival legislators through the lure of office.

It can be safely said that till BJP leader Manohar Parrikar was the Chief Minister, crime and corruption had been checked despite the influx of citizens from northern states and the inroads of the casino culture.

The current government led by Pramod Sawant has allowed the hold that Parrikar had on the administration to slip so badly that Herculean efforts will be needed to restore the rule of law. The fire that swept through the nightclub called Birch by Romeo Lane, killing 25 people — including 20 poor migrants who had shifted to Goa to make a living — sums up the sorry state of governance under Sawant’s rule.

Two brothers, Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra, owned the nightclub, along with “sleeping partner” Ajay Gupta. The land had been leased to them by the owner, Surinder Kumar Khosla, though he knew that no construction was permitted there since it lay astride former salt pans.

It has been reported that Gaurav and Saurabh, both residents of Delhi, share their residential address with 42 firms, most of which are probably shell companies. The Enforcement Directorate would be well advised to ascertain if these firms are conduits for money laundering. As per a report in a leading English newspaper, when electoral bonds were the flavour of the season, the brothers or the companies they controlled deposited Rs 37 crore in the scheme (which was later scrapped). This needs to be verified.

Now, the BJP, like any other political party, has to collect money by all means, fair or foul, in order to run its electoral machinery. In Goa, nightclubs and casinos present the politicians with easy pickings. The constructions that have changed the face of the Goan countryside are, of course, their prime source of funding.

The Luthra brothers were in Delhi when the fire struck their nightclub built with birchwood and having thatched roofs — all combustible material. They were informed telephonically within minutes of the disaster. Immediately, they booked a flight to Thailand to avoid arrest. CM Sawant’s minions went into top gear and managed to get the brothers arrested from Phuket. The government hoped that the public would forget that the real culprits were those who had shut their eyes to the illegalities.

Who are the officials who permitted the nightclub to operate brazenly on land on which no construction was permitted? If a politician has given the green signal, he or she should be exposed. Why have the erring officials not been named as co-accused along with the Luthra brothers and the landowner?

The officer in charge of the police station where the nightclub was operating is reported to have sent a written report to his superiors. He alleged that he was told to “keep quiet”. If that is so, there is no solace for law-abiding citizens of Goa if the senior officers who should have enforced the law are themselves complicit in the crime committed under their very noses.

My brother retired as the head of the Town and Country Planning Department in the Central government. He worked for five years after retirement as the Director of the School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi. He told me that he is not abreast of the happenings in his previous department in Goa, though he lives in our ancestral home in the village. I consulted him about this fiasco. His first comment was that the land on which the nightclub was built was an “eco-sensitive zone, subject to tidal action”. According to the Goa Regional Plan (2001-21), which was approved in 2008, no construction can be permitted on such land.

The second mandatory requirement that was disregarded was that there has to be a minimum distance of 70 metres between any building and the spot which a fire tender can access. In the Arpora case, the fire tenders had to operate from a distance of 400 metres, which was obviously ineffective. Planners should have pointed out these requirements to those empowered to permit construction.

Most native Goans feel that there is no governance in their state. It has collapsed beyond repair and only a change of guard can stem the rot.

The CM is attempting to shift the blame to officials. He has suspended a few of them and threatened not to spare any other who has not acted in good faith. He has not pointed a finger at any politician! But without political blessings, these violations could not have occurred. Goa is too small a state for its residents not to be aware of the levels to which corruption has risen.

The 20 migrants who lost their lives represented the India that has not benefited from PM Narendra Modi’s development initiatives and the economic advances the country has made. There appears to be a sense of oblivion about the existence of this India when decisions have to be taken, like they have to be taken every day by those who rule.

When Covid struck, our Prime Minister abruptly announced a lockdown. He forgot to factor in the poor migrants who were left without shelter and sustenance. PM Modi’s acolytes in Goa apparently don’t spare a thought for the migrants who go there to make a living. Forgetting about this parallel, poor India is inexcusable.