Creek-ifying Campal: ‘Creek-ifying’ Campal: Our Efforts at Goa ForGiving

“Like dreams, small creeks grow into mighty rivers.” – Allan Cabrera

This insightful quote may be modified in such a way that the words ‘small creeks’ are replaced by ‘dreggy nullahs’ and the words ‘mighty rivers’ are replaced by ‘magnificent creeks’. Quite literally, however, the heritage town of Campal in Goa happens to harbour a dregged nullah which truly has the potential of becoming a magnificent creek. Campal, where several heritage structures are located, is a quiet locality which possesses cultural value. From its ancient sculpted monuments to its historical Portuguese houses, Campal is a true portrayal of the refined and natural side of Goa. Goa itself is a tourist’s vacation haven visited by people from all over the globe. In fact, we were amazed to read in the newspapers that there were a handful of tourists who took the responsibility of sweeping Campal’s streets with the noble reason of maintaining the aesthetic beauty of the environment which they so graciously enjoy experiencing while on vacation.

But quite contrarily, there exists a neglected and disregarded inland water body that has come to be regarded as a nullah by the residents of the town. How disappointing it is, to witness a potential creek that has the capability of resembling those found in the city of Venice, ignored by its local residents. The St. Inez nullah (as it is known) opens up opposite Inox, squeezes in behind the heritage structures in Campal, flows beside Taj Vivanta and rests at St. Inez in the form of stagnant polluted water. As of 2012, the nullah was in a terrible and sordid condition. The possibilities of utilizing the Campal Creek positively were imaginatively ENDLESS!

Realizing the possibility of our dreams becoming a reality, we at ‘Goa ForGiving’ had commenced an initiative known as the ‘Campal Creek Initiative’, which initially sought to mobilize the local residents of Campal and those living across Goa to come together for a good cause and inspire them towards improving and developing the nullah into the potential creek that it should be. On April 19, 2012, a press conference was held in this regard and a large quantity of water has flowed under the bridge. The Corporation of the City of Panjim (CCP) sanctioned a survey thereafter in order to acquire useful information about the condition of the creek (as I would prefer to call it, as opposed to it being called a nullah) and Mr. Sanjit Rodrigues, the CCP Commissioner, himself visited the area near the creek so as to get first hand information of the situation. Moreover, the Sewage Treatment Plant is releasing purified and treated water into the creek and a few lakh litres of clean water is being used to flush the water of the creek towards hygienic conditions. The condition of the creek has been improving gradually because of this.

Boating and kayaking on the Mother's Day. celebration, 2012.

Our first successful endeavor towards the creek initiative was the celebration of Mother’s Day on May 13, 2012, where we introduced kayaks and dinghies into the creek. Mr. Sanjit Rodrigues, the CCP commissioner, decided to paddle a kayak and there were other citizens including Armando Gonsalves, our Chairman, who also participated in the event. Our aim was to help citizens realize that the Campal creek is in fact, a creek, and not a nullah, which was on its way to recovery. This would result in a paradigm shift in civil society which would eventually lead to the creek’s recovery. Furthermore, we decided to dedicate the Mother’s Day celebration to our Mother Earth. A photo-essay competition was organized by us to bring forth the challenges as well as the opportunities that will arise with the development of the creek.

Owing to the success of the Mother’s Day celebration in 2012, we, the ‘Creek Freaks’, (as we proudly agreed to call ourselves) decided to plan another Mother’s Day celebration on May 12, 2013. We had the support of the CCP, lifeguards from the Drishti Group, volunteers and others who stood by us. Just like in 2012, Mr. Sanjit Rodrigues, the CCP Commissioner, inspected the area we would be working on and thereafter, promised to us his full support on the programme. Another survey was also conducted by us along with the Dristhi lifeguards in order to analyze the process and requirements of a cleanup drive that would take place on April 5, 2013. For this purpose, we were provided with a boat from the ‘Taj’ group and as we were moving along the creek on the boat, we noticed that most of the pollution existed in the form of garbage disposed of by the adjacent houses and buildings situated along the creek. There was also a garbage dump further along the creek near a broken bridge which needed to be cleaned and the bridge itself needed to be repaired or else it could pose a threat to those trying to walk across it. Proper waste management and segregation practices would help and improve the waste pollution conditions. On April 5, 2013, we had our first cleanup drive with the children from the slums, the Drishti lifeguards and the CCP. The children were very co-operative and helped in the cleaning process without any complaints and at the end of the drive; we were delighted to see an improvement in the condition of the creek.

The 'Creek Freaks' Cleanup Drive.

Mr. Manohar Parrikar, the Chief Minister, along with Armando Gonsalves, the Chairman and pioneer of the initiative and Prince Jacob, Radio Jockey, taking a ride along the creek.

On May 12, 2013, we organized a Mother’s Day celebration at the Children’s Park which was located at the start of the creek. We had several activities such as ‘Zumba’ dance sessions; a painting workshop for children conducted by Loretti Pinto; a story-telling and an art and craft activity conducted by ‘Bookworm’, along with books written by famous authors that were displayed for sale. Being Mother’s Day, we dedicated that day to Mother Nature and took the opportunity of unveiling the conceptual sketch of ‘UZO’. Mr. Manohar Parrikar, the Chief Minister, did the honours of unveiling the sketch. He also rode on a boat along the creek. ‘BIG 92.7 FM’ was our media partner and covered the entire programme live.

This year, staying true to our tradition of celebrating Mother’s Day by the Campal Creek as we have been doing so enthusiastically for two years now, we are planning to have yet another Mother’s Day celebration on May 11, 2014. We will be organizing several activities and events that will celebrate this lovely occasion as well as emphasize on the well being of the creek and the culture of Goa at large. Furthermore, we at Goa ForGiving which currently has four new young and enthusiastic interns to assist with the planning of the programme, will see to it and ensure that the celebration is nothing short of a success. We are determined to bring the creek back to life and in doing so; Campal will be a town like no other found in Goa or even India for that matter. With the help of the community, CCP and the Government, we will achieve that which we are bound to achieve in the near future. We will ‘creek-ify’ the wonderful town of Campal!

Karan Bajaj

Intern at Goa ForGiving.