And the trawler owners have finally knocked on the doors of the High Court.

Apparently they have realized that knocking at the doors of "Laxmi" at

Altinho is of no use anymore. The last time they did that, it was before

25th. July 2002, when their trawlers were kept in readiness to invade the

seas and defy the HC ban with the blessings from "Laxmi" at Altinho. And as

it happened, the Goa environment Federation goes and spoils it all for them

as well as for Laxmi of Altinho. On the assurance that there would be plenty

of fish to be unloaded at the Goa's fisheries jetties from 26th. July

onwards, the cold storages were fired up, the fish processing plants geared

up with imported labour, all poised for the kill. Enter HC and its

back-breaking directives to the government, the "Laxmi" at Altinho swiftly

banged its doors on the trawler owners and turned turtle. The Director of

fisheries was made to pull up his boots and go scouting for once. But then

the trawler owner have been one step ahead. They have all been ready with a

contingency plan, just in case. They had kept the traditional fishermen's

boats ready, which are infact like mini trawlers, much much bigger in sizes

than the fishermen's canoes, equipped with powerful outboard motors. That

too got paralysed with the HC hearing the cries of the actual traditional

fishermen thro' Aires Rodrigues, banning all motorized crafts as well.

Trapped, the trawler dadas are now at the feet of the High Court for which

they previously had only scorn, encouraged by the scorn for the HC

generated by Laxmi from Altinho. And in the bargain, the fish processing

plants have made heavy losses on payment of salaries to the imported labour

for nothing. Somehow, they are now making do with the fish catch which is

coming in truck loads to Goa from Kerala . And why not? Delhi, instead of

universalizing the fishing ban throughout the sea coast of India, is more

preoccupied in distributing petrol pumps and cooking gas agencies to family

members and friends.

And most often we use the word "veiled" before the word "threat" signifying

some transparency in the intended threat. And our enterprising former

Speaker and the present Aldona MLA has been in the habit of issuing veiled

threats for a purpose. And people do take his threats seriously. One of his

veiled threats was given on the stairs of the Raj Bhavan after swearing in

as a minister that META Strips was very polluting and that it will be

stopped. That unsettled Jindal and very much settled the enterprising MLA.

Next came the veiled threat of making the entire Panjim city ground floor of

buildings as stilt parking. This terribly unsettled builder's lobby and the

enterprising MLA was very handsomely settled. Then came a not so veiled

threat to Manohar Parrikar when our enterprising MLA was smarting from

seeing the prison bars from the inside for the first time in his life. (ODI

FIASCO) . He was, at that point settling down in the ICU from the unsettling

experience in the police can. The not so veiled threat threatened to bring

down Manohar Parrikar from his "Kodel" within 3 months. The three months

have become years , but Manohar Parrikar is still very formidable in his

position. But this fact has never stopped eating the insides of our

enterprising MLA. The recent veiled threat to Manohar Parrikar comes as a

challenge to him to take on the mining lobby for the alleged destruction,

the mining lobby has caused to the environment, with their mining rejects.

It is not the mining rejects at all but the vast tracks of government land

that the mining lobby has usurped under the guise of re-plantation. The

veiled part here is extremely shrewd and calculated. Manohar Parrikar takes

on the mining giants. The mining giants want to bury Manohar Parrikar under

their mining rejects. Our enterprising MLA offers his services for the coup

de grace by not only giving them the green signal to bury Manohar Parrikar

but to bury the whole of Panjim city along with him for the price of his

KODEL. The fact is that the enterprising MLA has never looked beyond a

bundle of notes, far less at the environmental degradation that has been

taking place in Goa. We are getting old and our cherished dream must come

about, sooner the better. And I would'nt look too harshly on the

enterprising MLA if he eventually succeeds in his dreamy venture. But then

Manohar Parrikar, like a magician, has a load of surprising tricks up his

sleeves which could unsettle even a ferocious bear when it least expects to.

We are not IIT for nothing.

Cheers