FRANKLY FRANK: Seeking a breath of fresh air in Goa

Goa is changing. Its air that once carried the scent of salt and freshness is making way for dust carrying with it pollutant materials that are slowly killing our quality of life. In some places, it’s becoming hard to breathe and in many, we are forced to ingest polluting air. 

The only discourse these days is more roads, more infrastructure projects and the ever-growing need to expand. All these are coming at an undeniable cost of losing the clean air we have been breathing for so long.

Gradually, the tropical paradise known for its green cover and white sandy beaches is being left to face the consequences of rapid urbanisation. Once peaceful villages are transforming into towns and towns into cities. With every tree gone, a bit more polluting dust is adding to our already choked lives.

Panjim is the perfect example of skewed priority and planning. A city and its residents who earlier breathed clean air are made to inhale pollution that wafts through the city, thanks to the delayed Smart City project.

The city is a perfect example of how progress comes at the price of people's health, even as it continues to be in a constant state of delayed construction and destruction. And all this for the sake of modernity and convenience which Panjimites never asked for. 

The air we breathe is surely not what it used to be. It's becoming more and more poisonous. Dr Ashwini Collaco, a chest physician at Healthway Hospitals in Old Goa, paints a bleak picture. Air pollution in Goa, she argues, is not some distant, abstract threat—it’s a very real danger to our health.

The Goa State Pollution Control Board has already linked the decline in air quality to rapid urbanisation, increased vehicular emissions, and large-scale construction projects that disturb the soil and release dust into the air. But who cares!

The High Court of Bombay at Goa too has taken note of the dust pollution caused by the construction of the elevated corridor along the NH 66 in Porvorim.

The court has urged the State government to address the dust pollution urgently. But will that be enough? Or is it just a band-aid on a wound that is slowly widening?

As we go about our daily lives in the midst of this crisis, there seems to be a big disconnect between what is happening and the way we perceive this new threat to our health. 

Goa, a State with tourism as one of its lifelines, cannot afford to allow this pollution to go unchecked. It has to realise that everything could come to nought if the air we breathe is no longer pollution-free. When the lush landscapes are no longer green, and the beaches are choked with haze instead of fresh air who would want to come to Goa?    

Let's face the truth—we cannot have it both ways. We cannot chase after the promise of more buildings, more infrastructure, and more development, without sacrificing the very essence of what makes Goa unique.

Our green cover, our forests, our fresh air—they are not just luxuries. They are essential to our survival, our well-being, and our future.

What kind of Goa do we want for our children? A Goa where the air is thick with pollutants, where their lungs struggle for fresh air? Or a Goa where they can run through the forests, breathe deeply, and live in harmony with the natural beauty that once made this state a paradise?

It’s time to ask ourselves: How much development is too much? How much of Goa are we willing to lose in the pursuit of progress? We need to find a balance—one that protects our environment, our health, and the very spirit of the State. 

If we continue down this path, we risk not only losing the air we breathe, but also the very soul of Goa itself.