MAJORDA, Sept. 20 -- With verdant open fields in the background and the gradually darkening sky above, a historic gathering of the Goans from various places of South Goa and two MLA's from two constituencies cutting across the party lines took place. Gradually, the rains cleared, and so did the clouds, as civil society and NGOs pledged to keep the fight against coal transportation, the railway double-tracking and other projects.

The field was an unlikely and impromptu venue after the original venue owner got a call from the police station asking him not to hold the meeting there. Members of Goencho Ekvott, its frontal organisations, activists, prominent stakeholders from most coastal villages and beyond, braved the steady drizzle to gath...