It is difficult when you get hit all the time. And Vasco knows this better than any other city in the state. This city, named after Vasco da Gama, is also know as the Port Town because it is here that Goa’s only port is located. If not for the port, this city might not have existed and the Portuguese would have found no compelling reason to name it after its best known explorer. But apart from being this vibrant place where various interests compete for economic space, it is also the city which has suffered the most number of business hits.
In 2012, when the government shut down all the mines, literally overnight, it was Vasco that felt the tremors. The ban resulted in a severe drop in cargo activity which prompted Mormugao Port Trust leaders to explore ways and means to increase business. Efforts were made to diversify by expanding container traffic and increasing the quantum of coal handled at the port. The silver lining on this otherwise dark cloud is that today the port has a berth dedicated to coal cargo. This polluting commodity has raised the heckles of Vascoites who have to put up with black dust, but it kept the port going during hard times.
Then came the liquor ban. Nothing affected Vasco more that the order of the Supreme Court to shutdown liquor outlets located 500 mts from state and national highways. Vasco comprises a small strip of land jutting into the sea. Because two national highways begin in this city almost all the bars and liquor outlets had to shut down. The impact of the Supreme Court order has hit this town the hardest and people have to drive to the neighbouring villages in search of booze. As if this was not bad enough, the government, knowingly or unknowingly, chose to have the panchayat elections on June 25 which means the famous San Joao feast will be a dry day. Vascoites who want to celebrate this feast will now have to drive all the way to Margao or Panaji to buy liquor or store it for three days before the elections because the neighbouring villages will also have to go dry on account of the elections.
It was unfortunate for the State and Vasco that mining activity came to a halt when the international market was at its peak. Mining restarted a year back but the glory days are over and everyone is poorer for it. Barge building and repair facilities around the city are yet to recover from the shutdown and so is Vasco. There is hope that once the cap on iron ore output is lifted, activity at the port will pick up and business will go on as usual. It might, but what will remain unchanged is the highway liquor ban. Unless the State government files a review petition in the Supreme Court and convinces the judges that Goa has a good case for exemption. Until then, Vascoites will have to invent ways to get on with life.
