A huge slum?

Guest Columns by Sauvik Chakraverti,

The Newindpress on Sunday, 2007-2008

A huge slum?

Those who seek to protect the ‘environment’ all along the 2500-mile long twin-coastlines of our sub-continent have chosen a very far out method of doing so: and that is, by misusing force. In essence, the effect of the Coastal Zone Regulation Act is to make every single beach the property of the government of India, sitting in New Delhi — very, very far away from any of these lovely beaches.

One of the loveliest beaches in the world is Palolem, Goa, where I have been residing for quite some time now. Palolem is at the southern tip of Goa, very close to the border with Karnataka. It lies 60 potholed km from Goa’s Dabolim airport. The straggle of tourists that come here are served by ‘shacks’ and ‘coco huts’, which line the beach. All this prime beachside property that should be treated as private property has become public property because of the CRZ Act. The ‘shack-owners’ are not at liberty to build what they might like on their own properties. The armed might of New Delhi tells them what to build — shacks and coco huts — and these are actually ugly. A huge slum.

Allow me to describe Palolem Beach. It is crescent shaped and lined thick with swaying coconut trees. At the northern tip of the beach there are small mountains, which carry on down to the sea, only to meet up with a little island. The southern tip also juts out into the sea, but it is easier to climb to the top here, to a place very fittingly called Neptune’s Point. When you stand at Neptune’s Point and look back at Palolem, you know you are looking at prime real estate. But the truth is that socialist legislation has had a horrendous effect on the lives of the private beachside property owners.

How can we tell who is the real owner of beachside property like Palolem? Simple: You see whose boats are parked there. Beyond that, you can see whose dog barks as you approach. You can see who own houses, and so on. What would be the effect of throwing out the CRZ Act and replacing it with clear, transferable property titles to all owners of beachside property, issued by the local government, i.e., in this instance, the Canacona Municipality, under whose jurisdiction Palolem falls?

Now, suppose Donald Trump and some of his competitors were taken up to Neptune’s Point to take a view of Palolem Beach. They would immediately realise they were looking at a gold mine. They would happily engage in competitive bidding for the ownership of this beach. The higher the price Palolem fetched, the better for all the shackowners. But this happy-happy deal cannot be struck, ever, because of our stupid government.

In the first place, the Canacona municipality does not provide clear title deeds. Buying and selling property here is enmeshed in legal wrangles, unclear ownership etc. No Trump would even bid for this place because he wouldn’t get a clear ownership title. Further, if New Delhi told him about the CRZ Act in force, he would warn all his friends to stay far away from beachside property throughout India. What does the CRZ Act stipulate?

The CRZ Act specifies what can be built on a beach and what cannot. Its writ runs all along the beaches of India, stipulating that nothing concrete and permanent can be built on the 200m stretch of land adjoining the high-tide mark. Now, 200m is a goodly distance. In my youth I did many a 100m dash. And it fagged me out. That is, New Delhi is interfering where it does not belong. In effect, this means that all the villagers and fisherfolk who own land along that 200m stretch (without titles) cannot leverage their properties in an open market. This Act condemns them to eternal poverty. Sudha works as a maid in some houses here. She comes from the fisherfolk class and is poor. But her modest cottage is just a stone’s throw from the sea! She walks: she has no means of transport. No mobile phone either. Just a domestic, and that is all. Poor, poor Sudha, prime property owner.

The libertarian is enraged and incensed when force is misused on law-abiding property-owners. The tourist season here is between October and April. The government of Goa auctions licenses for operating shacks. Why do I need a license for opening a bar and restaurant on my own property? Then, the sharp entrepreneurs who win the bids, and who really try to keep tourists happy, are faced up with the CRZ from Delhi, which is very door ast from here. First: No permanent construction. Anything built must be pulled down at the end of the season. And if not, the authorities send in the bulldozers. I have seen many shacks and shops bulldozed in the year or so I have been here. This is tyranny. This is oppression.

If you stand on a beach and allow the sea up to your ankles, you will feel, when the waters recede, the sand under your feet getting sucked out. There is continuous ‘erosion’ when sea meets land. All the great rocks you see ahead of Neptune’s Point are smooth only because of erosion. Nothing can stop this natural process.

At night, Palolem is an extremely pretty sight, with even the coconut trees lit up. There is no reason to believe that private developers will build anything ugly. Let there also be freedom from the ‘town planner’. Let liberty reign alongside private property. When the shacks are pulled down in April, all that remains are the shit-pots. Hence, no monsoon tourism. And I love the monsoons here.

Actually, living in this ‘natural’ location, I have rediscovered something my father had taught me during the shikars we undertook when I was a lad: that the environment is your enemy, and survival there is tough. Here, monkeys attack our garden regularly, and sometimes break roof-tiles. Frogs and rats have to be chucked out every day. Bats fly in all the time and sometimes stay. So far, only one snake. In the house there are leeches, bugs, insects, mosquitoes and other forms of life that God has made, but with whom we do not co-exist. Pests attack our garden, and repelling them requires pesticides. Funny how snakes and frogs are never found in Delhi. The city is man’s natural environment. Thereafter, it’s a jungle out there. Environmentalists, who are also bird-watchers, should ponder over the purpose of the scarecrow. They will then find much to re-think their concerns.