A recent story (4 hours old) from BBC caught my attention because of its intersection between project management and sustainability. The story is about not only the potential impact but the rationale for three infrastructure projects in Goa, a state located on India’s west coast. Of note, the state is a former Portuguese colony with a very interesting history, and the reason that many residents have names like Fernandes, Alvares, and Rodrigues. From Wikipedia: The Portuguese invaded Goa in 1510, defeating the Bijapur Sultanate. The Portuguese rule lasted for about 450 years, and heavily influenced Goan culture, cuisine, and architecture. See below for some geographic orientation:
The three projects, as summarized by this article in the Hindustan Times, are:
…the doubling of an existing railway line between Hubli in Karnataka and Vasco da Gama in Goa, the expansion of the national highway 4A between Belgaum in North Karnataka and Goa and a power line. The railway line, by far the biggest of the three, will come at a cost of diversion of 113.857 ha. of forest land from the protected area and felling of 18,541 trees.
The second project – a doubling of the existing two lane highway to four lanes that was constructed by the Portuguese colonial government between Panaji in Goa and Belgavi in Karnataka will cost 31.015 ha of forest land and 12,097 trees proposed to be done partly by widening the existing highway, but largely by creating completely new roads on viaduct structures parallel to the existing highway, wherever it cannot be widened due to the difficult nature of the terrain.
Thirdly, a 400KV power line -- 3.5 km of which passes through protected forest to augment power supply between Goa and Karnataka to provide additional feed to Goa is also proposed.
For example, an organization called the Federation of Rainbow Warriors has filed a complaint, summarized here, which seeks to block the projects The story summarizes their viewpoint:
"All the documents point to Goa becoming a coal hub," says activist Abhijit Prabhudesai. "We have shared these documents with the government more than five months ago, but they are still unable to produce a single document to refute our claims."
The reaction to the three projects by local residents has been vocal. Below are two videos which summarize the stakeholder concerns:
Here you can also view a 50-minute (at times quite contentious!) interview by Faye D’Souza of Nilesh Cabra, Environmental and Power Minister of Goa.
And here is the interview with the stakeholders who are protesting, also by Faye D’Souza:
I’ll continue to track this and come back with updates but there is a lot to learn from this in terms of:
Long-term, big-picture thinking in planning projects
Full (meaning broad and deep) identification of stakeholders
Understanding how stakeholders (especially opponents) may align
Better communication and engagement of stakeholders
Keep tuned to People, Planet, Profits, and Projects for updates.
