Goa, April 15 -- SHASHWAT GUPTA RAY

Goa's water bod ies are choking - and the State knows it. From mass fish deaths in Mala Lake in Panjim to the worsening sewage cri sis in the Sal river, and the government's own admis sion in the Assembly that several rivers and beaches are unfit even for bathing, a disturbing pattern has emerged - contamina tion is rising.

What was once dis missed as isolated in cidents has now snow balled into a full-blown environmental crisis. Environmental experts have raised questions about regulatory failure, unchecked urbanisation, and the State's reluc tance to act, saying the warning signs have been visible for years - but ignored. They have called for immediate interventions, such as decentralised wastewater...