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VISHWAJIT RANE BOWS DOWN TO PROTESTORS!
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VISHWAJIT RANE BOWS DOWN TO PROTESTORS!

Jan 03- Jan 09, 2026, Stray Thoughts January 2, 2026 , by

AND a few stray thoughts for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday following the week when Vishwajit Rane Goa Destruction Department approved the conversion of three lakh square meters of private forest into settlement area in the beautiful coastal village of Arambol. For a Saturday following the week when on the amicus curiae Rohit Bras de Souza demanding the constitution of a court monitored multi-agency task force, to identify all high risk establishments along the coastal belt. For a Saturday following the week when the Supreme Court staying its own order on permitting mining on 100 metre Aravalli hills elevation. For a Saturday following the week when on the police verification of drivers and helpers employed in the Bal Rath buses and other vehicles transporting children to school and back.
AND a few stray thoughts and a few observations for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday when Vishwajit Rane Goa Destruction Department approved the conversion of three lakh square meters of private forest into settlement area in the beautiful coastal village of Arambol. The northern most part of Goa, comprising the coastal beaches of Morjim, Arambol and Ashwem, leading to Mopa airport, have historically been the most beautiful and tranquil of the villages of Goa.
Wild animals have a better instinct for nature than human beings, as reflected by the fact that for over five decades the famed olive ridley turtles have been choosing Morgim beach to come and their eggs. Indeed, the first lot of a 100 eggs has already hatched in the Morgim protected beach nests. This is the new site of the disputed super luxury nightclub promoted by model, filmstar Shilpa Shetty. Although there are allegations that her resort, the Bastion, spread over 1.5 crore sq mts is illegal, since most of it is part of the CRZ area. The government doesn’t seem to be inclined to take any action. Shilpa seems to have powerful godfathers both in the state of Goa and at the Centre.
Ironically, two years ago, the Central government had intervened and prevented the Goa Town & Country Planning Department from converting 21 percent of the green cover of Pernem into settlement. The bulk of it has already been converted for the benefit of the Mopa Airport. Under the Central government laws CRZ and other rules do not apply to utilities like airports, seaports, electric sub-stations and even double tracking of railway lines. The TCP has defied the high court and an entire hill in Bhatwadi in Arambol covered over by private forest, comprising three lakh square km of land, has been converted into settlement areas.
Unlike in several other similar cases the Goa Foundation has not filed any public interest litigation against the conversion of the three lakh square metre land, ostensibly for a mega real estate project of villas, including a 5-star hotel. Over a 1,000 residents of the five wards living in the Arambol foothills fear a Wynard like landslide happening. It may be recalled that thousands of lives were lost in the massive landslide that took place in Wynard in Kerala some time ago. It is learnt that there are over 1,000 families living in these foothills.
Unlike in the past, over the last few months Goans are becoming more proactive in protecting their hills, their coastal beaches and their land. The residents of Arambol took to the streets on Sunday evening (December 21) and their protests are expected to continue until the conversion is reversed. Apparently, it is a local bhatkar who has sold the three lakh square metres to a Delhi partner.
There have been instances in the past when the Goa Foundation has prevented the conversion of private forest land into settlement zone. A local activist Prasad Shapurkar and the local MLA Jit Arolkar have decided to raise the issue in the forthcoming winter session of the Goa legislative assembly. The Arambol residents rightly point out that it is the forests which keep their wells filled, their livelihood will be affected if the conversion is permitted and the forests lands cut.

ROHIT DEMANDS MULTI-AGENCY TASK FORCE
AND a few stray thoughts on the amicus curiae Rohit Bras de Souza demanding the constitution of a court monitored multi-agency task force, to identify all high risk establishments along the coastal belt. Rohit has called for a comprehensive audit for legal compliance with building CRZ, fire and trade licensing norms. The memorandum registered a mechanism for identifying of officials responsible for granting permission to Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub which claimed the lives of 25 plus lives on the night of Decmber 6, 2025 at Arpora.
The amicus curiae observed that the records indicated that the tragedy resulted from systematic multilayered non-compliance, non-enforcement of the building and safety regime. Rohit dismissed the claims that it was an unforeseen accident. He also sought directions to declare, that any interim stay of demolition, does not confer any positive right to start commercial operations on premises lacking a valid occupancy certificate. It is the responsibility of the village panchayat to issue an occupancy certificate on the basis of the NOC issued by the Fire Department.
Rohit has sought directions to all panchayats, municipal councils, the Corporation of the City of Panaji, not to grant any trade or establishment license in respect of any premises used for night clubs, bars, discotheques or spas, unless the applicant produces a valid completion order from PDA. And a valid occupancy certificate along with current fire NOC. In the case of CRZ areas there should also be a valid certificate from the Coastal Management Authority and the Goa State Pollution Board. Rohit has stated that the fire which took place is an unavoidable tragedy and it occurred due to the abdication of responsibility by officials at all levels.

ARAVALLI HILLS CONCERNS
 AND a few stray thoughts on the Supreme Court staying its own order on permitting mining on 100 metre Aravalli hills elevation. Taking suo moto congnizance of environment concerns over a month long order the SC stopped all mining activity including renewal of old and grant of new leases in the hills region. The SC stressed the need to examine whether the earlier judgment had inversely broadened the scope of mining. The SC also observed and expressed concern that only 1,048 hills of 12,000 in Rajasthan met the 100 metre threshold. It has called for detailed identification of territories that would be excluded, and an assessment of whether such exclusion could risk degradation and compromise ecological integrity.
Mining in the Aravalli range which includes Rajastan, parts of Gujarat, Delhi and Haryana has been going on for a long time. Mining in the Aravalli ranges has been extensive and largely destructive, often illegal with serious ecological consequences. Mining has been mainly for non-metallic and construction material including building stone, silica and the famous Rajasthani marble which everyone admires, limestone and sand from the river beds, these have all been looted extensively. There are no safeguards and all mining is open-cast mining which involves hill cutting and blasting. The use of heavy earth machinery is very common. This permanently destroys the hills which in this case, the Aravallis, are ancient and fragile, and non-regenerating.
There is a political contractors transport mafia in power which is especially involved in Haryana and Rajasthan, which is why in spite of numerous bans, mining has continued. Attempts have been repeatedly made to classify areas as degraded forests to permit illegal mining. The large scale mining in the Aravalli hills will also destroy fauna and flora in the wild. Hopefully this time the Supreme Court order will not be subverted by the politicians at national and state levels.

ARAVALLI HILLS CONCERNS
 AND a few stray thoughts on the Supreme Court staying its own order on permitting mining on 100 metre Aravalli hills elevation. Taking suo moto congnizance of environment concerns over a month long order the SC stopped all mining activity including renewal of old and grant of new leases in the hills region. The SC stressed the need to examine whether the earlier judgment had inversely broadened the scope of mining. The SC also observed and expressed concern that only 1,048 hills of 12,000 in Rajasthan met the 100 metre threshold. It has called for detailed identification of territories that would be excluded, and an assessment of whether such exclusion could risk degradation and compromise ecological integrity.
Mining in the Aravalli range which includes Rajastan, parts of Gujarat, Delhi and Haryana has been going on for a long time. Mining in the Aravalli ranges has been extensive and largely destructive, often illegal with serious ecological consequences. Mining has been mainly for non-metallic and construction material including building stone, silica and the famous Rajasthani marble which everyone admires, limestone and sand from the river beds, these have all been looted extensively. There are no safeguards and all mining is open-cast mining which involves hill cutting and blasting. The use of heavy earth machinery is very common. This permanently destroys the hills which in this case, the Aravallis, are ancient and fragile, and non-regenerating.
There is a political contractors transport mafia in power which is especially involved in Haryana and Rajasthan, which is why in spite of numerous bans, mining has continued. Attempts have been repeatedly made to classify areas as degraded forests to permit illegal mining. The large scale mining in the Aravalli hills will also destroy fauna and flora in the wild. Hopefully this time the Supreme Court order will not be subverted by the politicians at national and state levels.

BAL RATH BUSES
AND a few stray thoughts on the police verification of drivers and helpers employed in the Bal Rath buses and other vehicles transporting children to school and back. This comes in the wake of charges of molestation of children in the Bal Rath buses. Apparently, these buses are contracted out to private parties who do not check out the credentials of the drivers and their helpers.
A government circular has been issued to heads of both aided and non-aided primary, secondary and higher secondary schools, to ensure that the background of the Bal Rath bus drivers and helpers are cross-checked, and the process of police verification is complete. This may not be adequate as hundreds of private Maruti vans and autorikshaws are also used to transport the children. In these cases it is not molestation vehicle safety which is the main concern, as they tend to be over crowded to make maximum profits. Parents seem to trust private Maruti vans and autorikshaws more than the Bal Rath buses.

JUSTICE FERDIN REBELLO, ACTIVIST
AND last stray thought for yet another Saturday. Former Chief Justice of the Allahabad high court, Ferdin Rebello, has decided to return to activism after a long period of silence. Justice Ferdin, who was relocated in Mumbai, specializing in mediation work, seems to have returned to his residence at Dona Paula on a permanent basis.
In his younger days Ferdin considered himself a Socialist and was a member of the Janata Party. In fact, in the post-Emergency elections, Ferdin Rebello was elected to the legislative assembly from the Cuncolim constituency. Ferdin Rebello is a close friend of mine who represented me in several cases of contempt of court. Ferdin was selected as a judge of the Bombay high court and subsequently due to his superior performance, he was elevated to the rank of Chief Justice of Allahabad high court.
Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh is considered the prestigious home of the Nehru family. Motilal Nehru, the father of Jawaharlal, was one of the founders of the Congress party and he practiced at the Allahabad high court. We hope that Ferdin Rebello will provide the leadership that Goa desperately needs to reverse the systematic destruction of the state by the double-engine BJP government.

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