Underwater Killing Fields
They say you only realize what you had when it’s gone. But the crushing tragedy of our information-saturated 21stcentury is much worse. We know exactly the value of what we have, but still throw it away heedlessly and forever. Could things possibly turn out different for the newly accounted treasure-houses that have been discovered under the surfaces of Goa’s rivers? Two consecutive surveys by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in the giant Zuari and the relatively diminutive Tiracol have revealed an extraordinary biodiversity bonanza of global significance is still hanging on in the state’s inland waters, despite all odds. We know it is there. What happens next is yet to be determined. India’s smallest state is marvelously riparian, its identity and image born from swift-moving waters and rich khazan lands. Nine rivers flow from the magnificent Western Ghats to the Arabian Sea: the Mandovi/Mhadei, Zuari, Tiracol, Colvale, Sal, Talpona, Saleri, Canacona and Galgibaga (thes