At a time when people are looking to unwind and move away from the hustle bustle of city life for a more peaceful way of living, a Mumbai-based woman narrated an alternate experience.
In a post that went viral on Instagram, the woman, identified as Kirti Poonia, shared why she decided to move back to Mumbai from Goa within six months of relocating there.
‘Goa’s air quality worse than Mumbai’
In a finding that would surprise many, Kirti shared that Goa’s air quality was actually worse than that of Mumbai.
“At first I wasn’t taking my AQI meter because I was taking my two-year-old baby to a surreal beach village…soon I started noticing small fires in the evening, they were also burning plastic garbage with it. [When I took my meter there] it showed 150-180…The same meter shows 40-80 in Mahim,” she wrote.
‘Garbage burning is a norm in Goa’
Kirti shared that this wasn’t an isolated incident as she had found that garbage burning was a routine practice in Goa. “You can smell it daily at 7 pm if you have a discerning nose,” she wrote.
“I decided to take up the leaf burning issue and realised that most people have not heard of composting. They have been burning this fire daily for over 100 years,” she said.
‘Construction crisis adding to air quality woes’
Kirti also remarked that she had witnessed several residents adding additional floors to their existing houses for settlers, leading to increased air pollution.
“[In the last six months] I’ve felt like I am living on a construction site,” she wrote.
‘Garbage collection is a problem’
Kirti also flagged the lack of garbage collection in several areas of the state. She remarked that the crisis was fuelled by intense migration to the state, which is “not prepared to house so many people”. The blatant display of civic apathy she said comes primarily from mismanagement.
She shared that she had gotten a patch of land cleaned on her own, but the joy didn’t last long as garbage accumulation by residents and tourists alike soon commenced, she said.
‘Educational system, drug problem persists’
Kirti opined that the state’s educational system was also not deemed to be the most ideal, claiming that most children depart from the state for higher education.
“Goa has a dark side too, with a culture of drugs and gang wars. I would not know how to manage a teenage son in Goa,” she said.
Summing up her experience she said infrastructural disadvantages prevail in the state. Be it thin roads or the inaccessibility to medical facilities.
Netizens react: ‘Glad about the reverse migration’
“Glad this reverse migration of outsiders (not settlers) is happening from Goa. Goa was beautiful till it was with the Goans. The moment outsiders began to live there, rhey expected city-level service, and of course corporations showed up to raze down the culture to build for these outsiders,” a user wrote.
Another user labelled her experience as “relatable”. [As someone] shuttling between Dadar in Mumbai and Siolim in Goa, [these are excellent points],” they wrote.