Goa, Oct. 31 -- BLAISE COSTABIR

Many years ago, when I was an avid kayak er, I often wondered why waterways in Australia and Europe looked so differ ent from ours in Goa. In many places abroad, even where riv ers were narrower than ours, the waterfront was an exten sion of people's living spaces. There would be a small jetty, a few boats or kayaks, perhaps a boathouse, and homes set back from the water. In Goa, I would often see houses with toilets discharging directly into the water. The contrast was stark, and it remains so today. Reports of severe pollution in the Mand ovi and the recent mass fish deaths in Mala Lake are re minders of the price we pay.

This is not merely a question of how we build along our wa terways. It is about wh...