The Voice of Goa - - Since 1900

Panjim I February 27, 2011 I Postal Reg. No. Goa 101 I Price Rs. 3.00 I Air Surcharge Rs 2 I Pages 16+10

gAddAFI HAs lOsT PEOPlEs CONFIdENCE, sAys Us >> P12

world23 MININg TrUCKs dETAINEd IN TrANsPOrT dEPT drIVE >> P3

goaWEll lOVE TO sPOIl INdIAN PArTy: sTrAUss >> P16

sports

sunday

weekend

visit us at: www.oheraldo.in

AFP PHOTO

A lookalike of cricketer Sachin Tendulkar performs Hindu rituals as he participates in a re-

ligious ceremony for the victory of Indian Cricket Team in Ahmedabad on Saturday. India

are set to face England in match 11 of the Cricket World Cup on Sunday.

KuRT BEnTo

For a football loving

state, Goa has had

mixed reactions to the

ongoing Cricket World Cup

being held in India. The

main reason, Espnstar

shows most of the matches

on either all three or two of

their channels Espn, Star

Sports and Star Cricket

leaving the football fan with

little else to do besides twid-

dling their thumbs. The only

other option is to visit the

rare sports pub with a DTH

connection that shows

other sports channels.

For a diehard football fan,

especially one who pays

good money for a DTH

connection, he or she

would expect the sports

channels to divide football

and cricket between their

three channels. Like Krush-

nan Naik, who states em-

phatically, I have no

problem with one channel

showing the match with

English commentary and

the other with Hindi. But,

the least they could do is

leave one channel open for

some football. Im glad that

only the India matches are

shown on all three chan-

nels. This way, we at least

get to watch some football,

rather than none.

Ten premier league matches

are played and telecast over

the weekends. But with

cricket pushing out football,

fans will have to miss out.

Fernando Monte Da Silva, a

Newcastle supporter says,

Id rather watch Newcastle

get decimated by Arsenal

than watch a couple of

guys play for half a day and

then take a tea break. Of

course, with the limited

matches, that means Id

hardly get to see Newcastle

play anyway.

This season, they were al-

ready deprived of the Span-

ish League and the

Champions League. Now,

for the next few weeks,

footie fans will be suffering

from withdrawal symptoms.

But, an online movement,

primarily on networking site

Twitter, as well as Facebook

may have just brightened

up their day. A few football

fans from Delhi are spear-

heading a movement, com-

plete with a petition that

has already had some effect

on the programming. There

will be a few more football

matches than normal this

weekend and the next. Big

Brother really is keeping tabs!

World Cup cricket shoots football out of tellyFootball fans unitedly start online movement to watch EPL matches

PTI

KOCHI, FEB 26: In further

embarrassment to former

Chief Justice of India K G

Balakrishnan, Income Tax

authorities on Saturday said

they have unearthed black

money in possession of three

of his relatives during their

investigation into allegations

of amassment of wealth by

them.

As far as Justice Balakr-

ishnan is concerned, I can-

not say anything. But as far

as his relatives two sons-in-

law and brother are con-

cerned, we have found there

is black money, director

general of Income Tax (In-

vestigation), Kochi, E T

Lukose, told reporters.

Justice Balakrishnans

sons-in-law PV Sreenijan

and MJ Benny, both advo-

cates, and brother KG

Bhaskaran, former special

government pleader, have

been found to be possessing

black money, he said.

We are investigating how

they have got the black

money. We will again ques-

tion the relatives, he said.

The official refused to

state the quantum of black

>Continued on pg 11

Ex-CJIs kin have black money: I-T

For a diehard football fan, especiallyone who pays good money for a DTHconnection, he or she would expect thesports channels to divide football andcricket between their three channels.

BinDiyA CHARi

PANJIM: Our pictures tell a

story that words cannot.

Santa Monseratte has come

calling because the CCP

elections have come to town.

In a blatant mockery and

sheer contempt for fair play,

Babush Monseratte, if the

pictures of TVs, washing ma-

chines and bicycles above

and the words of the people

who have received them is to

be believed, has poured

goods worth lakhs of rupees

into the homes of mainly

poor folk, to buy votes.

In addition, toilets are

being constructed, money

being handed out to repair

houses and roofs and cash

doles given to buy Nike

shoes. To be completely fair,

the BJP has in some places

asked voters what they want,

but the sheer weight, scale

and grandeur of Monser-

attes goodies make them

look like saints in front of this

Santa.

Two weeks back,

Babushs man, Uday Mad-

kaikar (well that was before

he had a fallout with

Babush) came here inquir-

ing about what we wanted?

We were given an option to

choose a washing machine, a

fridge or a TV, disclosed one

resident who opted for a

double door fridge.

Madkaikar may have

parted ways with Babush,

but the promises made to

the voters of this ward XXI

were kept. Vehicles carrying

these goods from electronic

shops arrived in bulk and

entered the huts and very

modest homes of these peo-

ple, living adjacent to the Al-

tinho slopes. Hutments be-

hind police quarters at Alt-

inho which form part of

ward XXI has about twenty

houses with voter population

of 145 voters.

When a team of this re-

porter and Heralds photog-

rapher started visiting

homes in the guise of officials

collecting data, the adults

were initially tightlipped

about the new goodies but a

twelve-year-old quipped

Everybody here has got

electronic goods from some-

one now.

An elderly lady who has

been staying in the locality

for over fifty years complains

about her pathetic living

condition but she is thankful

to Santa Monseratte for her

brand new 73 cms of LG TV

which is quite the showpiece

>Continued on pg 11

ITS CHRISTMAS BEFORE CCP POllS

MY NEW TV IN MY OLD WORLD: An old lady in ward XXI

with her new gift.

LOO AND BEHOLD: Sanitising voters with brand new

toilets.

TICKET TO RIDE: Shining new bicycles at Aivao village

Caranzalem.

Babush offloads TVs, fridges, washing machines, bicycles to voters

LG TV (73 cms) cost of eachRs 38,000LG double door refrigeratorRs 15,700LG Washing Machine (toploading) Rs 13,200Estimated spend on these Rs 16.25 lakhs*(*If we take the average cost of one of the threeitems as Rs 25,000 and multiply by a thumb countof 65 houses -20 houses in ward 1 and 2 and 25houses in ward 21), the costs are Rs 16.25 lakhs atthe very least)

Bicycles Rs 2,500Estimated spend Rs 50,000**(** Rs 2500 x 20 cycles)

House repairs Rs 1,00,000Estimated spend Rs 5 lakhs***(*** Rs 1 lakh into 5 houses, an absolute bare minimum)

In addition: Construction oftoilets, money for shoes etc.

THe MaTHs oF VoTe Goodies

Can panJiM do Business WiTH

BaBusH? pG 9

TEAM HERALD

Panjim: For Sandesh

Chodankar, the PI of the

Panjim police station on the

fateful night when Cipriano

Fernandes was tortured, his

chance to escape from a

murder charge that could

end his career hangs by a

very narrow thread.

The vague wording of the

FIR lodged by the Crime

branch against Panjim po-

lice station has obviously

helped. With an aim to shield

at least some officers includ-

ing him, the FIR with

charges of murder among

others is against Police per-

sonnel on duty from 22.30

hours of 7.01.2011 to 11.55

hours of 08.02.11.

For Sandesh Chodankar,

the escape route is to estab-

lish that he wasnt on the

scene of crime - the Panjim

police station, which he was

in charge of during those

crucial hours. But if some

facts on record are to be be-

lieved, that escape route is

closing.

Chodankars driver, Vithal

Naik - in a statement which

could obviously have been

dictated by the PI - to SDM

Shabaji Shetye (Herald has

a copy of it) said that he had

dropped PI Sandesh

Chodankar at his residence

at about 10 pm on 7/1/2011 in

the police jeep. The PI was

collected from his residence

at 1.45 hours (at night which

is 3 hours and 45 mins after

he reached home). He then

left for night patrolling at

Calangute, Anjuna and Por-

vorim and returned at 5.45

am and dropped to his resi-

dence.

Now compare this with

the statement of Sandeep

Shirvoikar, Head Constable

who was SHO on duty of the

intervening night 7/8th Jan-

uary 2011 from 8 pm to 8 am.

This statement finds men-

tion as point number 80,

Page 29 in SDM Shetyes

final inquiry report. Shir-

voikar confirmed the first

part of Naiks statement that

Chodankar left the police

station around 10 pm.

Shetyes report then states

He (Shirvoikar) further

stated that PI Chodankar

came to the police station

around 2.00 am and after

about 10-15 minutes left the

>Continued on pg 11

Why is PI Chodankar refuting presence during Ciprianos torture?

Cipriano Case - Hidden TruTHs - parT 2

Sadhvi Pragyaheld in Joshimurder case

PTI

MUMBAI, FEB 26: Sadhvi

Pragya Singh Thakur, a key

accused in 2008 Malegaon

blast case, has been placed

under arrest by MP Police in

connection with the murder

of Sunil Joshi, a suspect in

the Samjhauta Express

blast case.

The MP police moved an

application in the special

MCOCA court and after tak-

ing the courts permission

they placed Sadhvi under

arrest, Rohini Salian, Spe-

cial Public Prosecutor said.

2 www.oheraldo.in

goa If I am elected, installing streetlightswould be my priority. Drains and parking isa major problem for ward 25. All workshere would be taken up on priority. I wantto see this ward clean.

Namita Narvekar

I kept on preparing proposals and submited, but the CCP was not bothered. I did works worth Rs 7 lakh here but entiremoney came from different departments,CCP did not spend anything.

Sandeep Kundaikar

SNAPSHOT

Goa I Sunday 27, February 2011

BATTLE fOR pAnjiM: wARDs 21 & 25

sUnDAy fACEOff

CORRiDORs Of pOwER

sUraJ nandrekar

Opposition leader

Manohar Parrikar

one of the champion

crusaders against illegal

mining has, for reasons best

known to him, has fallen

short of naming the culprits

behind the illegal mining.

The irony though is that il-

legal mining also existed

during his tenure as the chief

minister of Goa between

2002 and 2005.

According to him, the Goa

government lost royalty on 1

cr tonne of mining export

between 2002 and 2005,

which the Public Accounts

Committee (PAC), is inquir-

ing into.

Parrikar, who is the chair-

man of the PAC, says the

mining department has no

explanation on the loss of

royalty.

However, when it was

pointed out to him that dur-

ing this period he was him-

self the chief minister what

came out was surprising.

First instantly Parrikar

backtracked that the loss

was huge. During those

days illegal mining was not

so huge and the royalty was

paltry @ Rs 30 per tonne. So

the loss would be around 25

to 30 cr.

Then he said even during

my chief ministership, the

mining minister was the

same.

Does that mean he is

blaming Digambar Kamat

for flourishing of illegal

mines and loss of royalty?

No, says Parrikar.

It is you who is interpret-

ing not me, I have not named

anyone, he says.

SO why is he letting

Kamat off the hook?

Recently, a report blamed

Parrikar for going soft on the

Congress leaders and with

the way the former chief

minister has replied to the

above queries has left one

guessing - does Parrikar re-

ally want to raise the issue of

illegal mining in the state?

Or is he only paying lip serv-

ice?

If he was so concerned

about the illegal mining why

didnt he take action during

his tenure?

He has instead vigorously

accused police inspectors

and other mines depart-

ment officials for the plun-

der.

One question we would

like to ask is, does Parrikar

want the common man to

believe that police inspectors

and mining officials are only

responsible for illegal mining

running into crores without

political backing.

Or is he giving a clean chit

to politicians for the illegal

mining menace?

Herald: Your comments

on making English compul-

sory with one primary sub-

ject in Konkani has sparked

off a mini storm among

some elements in the

Church

Tomazinho: One priest Fr

Mousinho de Ataide

ridiculed my remarks. I wish

he had understood that what

I said, if implemented will go

a long way in preserving the

catholic education of the

Church.

Herald: How is that so?

Tomazinho: In Church

schools Konkani is taught in

Devanagari script because

that is the official script of

the State. Without any of-

fence to the script and with-

out calling for any change in

the status conferred to it, I

am saying that let parents

have a choice of the script. I

confident that 90 per cent of

the parents who send their

children to church schools

will opt for the Roman

script.

Herald: But you are ad-

vocating primary education

in English

Tomazinho: Yes with one

compulsory subject in

Konkani. And if it is Roman

script, then the combination

English primary education

and Konkani in roman script

will be perfect. The irony is

that the Church does all its

religious activities in the

Roman script but teaches

Konkani in Devanagari

script.

We are doing away with

our own people by denying

them access to Konkani by

advocating it in a script

which is not as comfortable

as the Roman script. When

English is taught in primary

schools, accepting Konkani

will be easier through the

Roman script.

At this point of time

there are thousands of

schools where the medium

of instruction is Marathi.

Then there are many pri-

vate schools which do not

promote Konkani. We

need to counter this imbal-

ance.

Herald: But there

seems to be an opposition

to this

Tomazinho: I hope the

Konkani pundits who are

undoubtedly scholarly, un-

derstands that we will not

get this generation to em-

brace Konkani unless we

make it easier for them to

learn it I the roman script.

Let there be a serious

thought to it based on prac-

ticality.

One of Goas best known Konkani and Tiatr exponents Tomazinho Cardozos comments that Konkanican be saved in Goa only if the medium of instruction in primary schools is English has stirred a debateover the Konkani script again. Cardozo feels that if the Church imparts education in the Devanagariscripts students will stop learning Konkani. Backers of the Devanagari script like Uday Bhembre do notagree. TEAM HERALD witnesses the face off

Herald: Will imparting

primary education in

Konkani in Roman script

help arrest the decline in

enrolment in these schools

at the primary level?

Bhembre: No, not at all.

The aversion is not to the

script but the language. Peo-

ple like Tomazinho are trying

to fool the people. Parents are

asking for English, they have

reservations on Konkani or

are not in favour of the lan-

guage as the medium of in-

struction. The argument that

Konkani in Roman script as

the medium of instruction is

totally irrelevant.

Herald: But, there have

been arguments in some

quarters that enrolment in

schools is on the decline

with parents opting for pri-

vate English schools.

Bhembre: I feel that this is

the just the pretext to propa-

gate either Roman script or

English education. Inciden-

tally, not all Romiwadis share

this view. To my mind, only

Tomazinho Cardozo has been

expressing this view to have

education through English

medium.

Herald: Tomazinho Car-

dozo has recently said that

Church-run schools are

heading towards disaster if

the Church does not change

its policy on primary educa-

tion or do not impart pri-

mary education in English.

Comment?

Bhembre: This is happen-

ing throughout the country.

There is a misconception

that children have to be in an

English school to become

proficient in the language.

You are destroying the fun-

damental doctrine of educa-

tion in the young minds.

This, certainly, is not in the

interest of the children.

Herald: Its been two

decades since the Diocesan

Society of Education

switched over to the

Konkani medium of in-

struction at the primary

level. So why this demand

for primary education in

English?

Bhembre: According to

me, the Church took the cor-

rect decision to switch over to

Konkani as the medium of in-

struction at the primary edu-

cation on two counts. One, the

Church has been consistently

following a policy worldwide

to encourage local languages.

Secondly, educational

doctrine suggests that the

medium of instruction at the

primary level should be in

the mother tongue of the

child.

To save Konkani, teach English: Tomazinho

Church was right to switch to Konkani: Uday

jusTice for cipriaNo Supporters light candles, seeking justice in the Cipriano death

case at Azad Maidan, Panjim on Saturday. The vigil evoked poor response. A group of five

marched to the CMs Altinho residence. In his absence, they handed over the memoran-

dum to the staff, demanding immediate arrest of guilty policemen.

Barnabe Sapeco

Woman dies after setting

self ablaze at Balli

MARGAO: A 26-year old woman, Shoba Manjunath

Sirsat, committed suicide by setting her on fire at

Pantem-Balli on Saturday noon.

PSI Prasanna Bhagat informed that the deceased,

who was in a disturbed framed of mind, immolated

herself near a nearby rivulet on the pretext of

washing clothes.

The deceased had gone out of the house with a

bucket with clothes around noon. As she failed to

return home, her husband conducted a search,

only to find her dead,PSI added.

The police are investigating.

fDa raids Navelim shop,

seizes sweets, dry fruits

PANJIM: The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA)

raided a sweet mart shop in Navelim, Salcete and

seized sweets and dry fruits worth Rs 3.5 lakh.

Suka Mewa, a sweet mart, is owned by Shravan

Singh.

According to sources, the raid was conducted by

FDA inspector Rajiv Kurde and Priya Kholkar.

Sources said dry fruits and sweets worth Rs 3.5

lakh were seized.However, officials in the FDA re-

fused to provide details on the raid.

Woman arrested with

drugs at arpora

CALANGUTE: A 50-year-old woman from Cobra

Vaddo, here, was arrested by Anjuna Police on

charges of possessing drugs worth Rs 52,000 at

Arpora late Friday evening.

According to Anjuna police, Surekha Sushant Man-

drekar was caught allegedly in possession of 518

gms of charas. Mandrekar was arrested at Arpora

near the saw mill while she was waiting for

prospective customers. The Anjuna police team

was led by PSI Pravin Gauns and included Nitesh

Mulgaonkar, Babu Madhan, Keshav Naik, Samir

Gauns, Ashwini Gauns and Reshma Kandolkar.

SEC yet to appoint election observersheraLd rePOrter

PanJim, FeB 26: Even as

there are incidents of good-

ies being distributed in some

wards of the Corporation of

the City of Panjim (CCP) in

violation of the Election

Code of Conduct, the State

Election Commission (SEC)

is yet to appoint election ob-

servers.

When contacted SEC offi-

cials said, a notification ap-

pointing two observers

would be out only on Mon-

day.

Meanwhile, the Returning

Officer (RO) has appointed

two flying squads to look into

the complaint of irregulari-

ties.

Acting upon a complaint

by Rui Ferreira, who is con-

testing from ward XVI, the

RO Mihir Vardhan, has or-

dered CCP to stop the work

it was carrying out in ward

XVI.

When contacted a Flying

Squad official informed that

work has been stopped on

the direction of the Collector.

The CCP has been asked

to resume the work after

Election Code of Conduct

ends.

Ferreira who is contesting

on NCP panel, had lodged a

complaint about construc-

tion work being carried out

in his ward on the approach

road from Progress High

School to the Panjim

Church.

He alleged it was an at-

tempt to make it known to

members of the public (espe-

cially the catholic commu-

nity) and voters of ward

XXVI, in particular, that the

works are being undertaken

at the behest of Babush

panel.

It tantamount to luring

voters by using religion he

said.

Bindiya chari

If there is any ward which

does not have any major

problem in the CCP ju-

risdiction, then it has to be

ward 21, which covers most

of the Altinho road.

The ward mostly has

voter population of police

employees staying at Alt-

inho Hill in Government

Quarters.

This ward may not

have any major problems

except for nagging issue

of non-availability of

basic sanitary facilities to

those residing in huts be-

hind the police quarters,

however, the youth in the

area feel let down as

nothing is being done to

address unemployment

issue.

Outgoing corporator

Shushila Gawas has not

done anything -- she did not

Ward 21: Unemployment is major concern

shweta kamat

If anybody wants to know

how the Corporation of

City of Panjim has failed

to take up basic works in its

jurisdiction during the last

tenure just pip into Ward No

25, represented by a BJP

backed corporator.

Parking mess, clogged

drains and utter mess of the

civic amenities highlights

this ward represented by

Sandeep Kundaikar.

The ward is tucked in the

heart of the city across two

major roads Dr Atmaram

Borkar Road and Dr Dada

Vaidya Road.

Despite being in the

heart of the city, where most

of the tourists prefer to

move, the ward has been

completely set aside by CCP.

The ward is just full of is-

sues, Pai, a local shop-

Parking mess main highlight of Ward 25

Messy situation in Ward 21

Sachin Ambdoskar

even bother to help even one

person from this ward to get

a job, tells one Altinho

youth who thoroughly be-

lieves that providing jobs is

also a responsibility of the

corporator.

However, the youth dont

seem to be concerned much

about the non availability of

sanitary facilities to small

houses which they claim are

illegal.

For Gajanan Kale who is

contesting from Babushs

panel feels unemployment

in his ward is his major con-

cern.

He also plans to have

some development in his

ward but at the moment he

is more focused on his cam-

paigning.

Whereas his rival Mahesh

Chandekar who is sup-

ported by BJP says there is

scope for development in the

area.

Traffic chaos in Ward 25

keeper says.

Kundaikar further adds,

CCP had no money to

spend here. I kept on

preparing proposals and

submitting to the corpora-

tion, but they were not both-

ered.

He said the ward received

utter step motherly treat-

ment from the ruling panel,

which had blessings of Edu-

cation Minister Babush

Monserrate.

The ward has a total of

1238 voters and Kundaikar

had won in 2006 election de-

feating Ajay Silimkhan.

For 2011 polls, the ward

is reserved for women

where BJP-backed

panels Shubadha

Dhond is pitted against

Babush backed panels

Namita Narvekar.

Kundaikar himself admits

that the ward is in real bad

shape.

Rozario Estibeiro

Why is hard nutParrikar soft on illegal mining?

3 www.oheraldo.in

goa The department will go very strong to curbthe increasing overloading of trucks. If needpolice protection will be sought. From Mondaythe officials will visit the respective miningsites from where the ore is being loaded.

Transport Director

We have received application from Maxgrow Finlease Pvt Ltd but we have forwarded it. The application came longtime back and we were awaiting government decision in this regard.

GIDC chairman

Goa I Sunday 27, February 2011

rider killed in curtorim mishapMARGAO: A 26-year old two-wheeler rider Sagar Kamblewas killed in a road accident at Curtorim on Saturday.Maina Curtorim police said the deceased met with a self ac-cident and died on the spot.

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, FEB 26: Even as the

dust over the SEZ land con-

troversy is yet to settle down,

one of the seven promoters

of the special economic

zones in the State has reap-

plied for land allotment from

the Goa Industrial Develop-

ment Corporation (GIDC).

In a landmark judgment,

on November 27, the High

Court of Bombay at Goa had

set aside the land allotments

to all SEZ promoters dub-

bing it as arbitrary, in

undue haste and without

proper scrutiny of the appli-

cations.

The Court had directed

the Government to allot

land afresh to the develop-

ers for any other purpose

except SEZ.

While six companies ap-

pealed against the order in

Supreme Court only one

company Maxgrow Finlease

Pvt Ltd reapplied for land

allotment.

The company has applied

for 2 lakh square metres of

land to set up industries of

IT and IT Enabled Services

(ITES).

When contacted GIDC

chairman Chandrakant

Kavlekar confirmed the de-

Over 200 cases booked across the State

23 mining trucks detainedin Transport Dept drive

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, FEB 26: In a major

crackdown on the mining

trucks violating laws, the

State Transport department

on Saturday detained 23

trucks and booked over 200

cases across the state.

The extensive drive, which

kicked-off today morning

against overloaded trucks in

the mining belt managed to

detain around 23 trucks in

North Goa itself registering

103 cases.

Apart from overloading,

the trucks were moving

without valid documents

and licence from the mining

department, Director

Transport Arun Desai said

adding that many were

found without the addi-

tional plank.

All these detained trucks

have been kept at Dodamarg,

Bhamai, Pale and Bicholim

under police security.

The department has also

registered 119 cases in South

Goa of which 42 were booked

for overloading alone.

Here most of the trucks

are been booked for two dif-

ferent offences- overloading

and non availability of docu-

ment, director said.

Desai said that maximum vi-

olation was seen in areas of

Sanvordem, Rivona and Zam-

bavli.

After much protest on

trucks overloaded with ore,

the transport department

has swung in action.

The department on Feb-

ruary 22 had issued no-

tices to the mining firms

asking to abide by the

High Court directives on

overloading of the trucks

failing which department

would confiscate the

trucks, laden with ore.

The Court in its directives

had said that if any truck en-

gaged in the transportation

of ore is found violating any

of the measures three times

in a year, the permit of the

truck will be suspended.

As per the regulations for

the mineral ore transporta-

tion in the state of Goa, the

Court has ordered, that the

trucks loaded at dispatched

point shall carry ore only to

the extent of permitted ca-

pacity that is 10.5 tonnes for

six wheelers.

The mining companies

have been directed to have

their own weighbridges at

the point of loading itself and

no truck bearing ore would

be permitted to the leave the

premises unless its weight is

measured, it adds.

The department will go

very strong to curb the in-

creasing overloading of

trucks. If required police

protection will be also

sought, Desai said adding

that from Monday the de-

partment officials will visit

the respective mining sites

from where the ore is being

loaded.

The extensive drive, which kicked-off today morningagainst overloaded trucks in the mining belt man-aged to detain around 23 trucks in North Goa itselfregistering 103 cases.

detAined for breAking the rules

SEZ promoterreapplies for land allotment

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

BICHOLIM, FEB 26: A 52-

year-old daily wage worker

was found murdered in a

house at Vathadev-Bicholim

on Saturday.

According to sources, the

body of Babi Viro Moto was

found naked and a koita,

the weapon used in the mur-

der, lay by the side.

The abandoned house

had no electricity and be-

longed to one Adnyan Beig

of Muslimwada-Bicholim.

Babi was staying since last

two years. His brother and

his son lived separately at

Dhangarwada-Bicholim.

According to sources,

Babi had illicit affair with a

woman from Honda who

would frequent the house.

Sources added that the

woman had earlier as-

saulted him on his head with

a sharp weapon. The police

are now investigating if the

same woman is behind the

murder.

Worker found murdered in Bicholim house

velopment.

Yes, we have received

the application but we

have forwarded it to the

government. Let them

take a decision, Kavlekar

told Herald.

He stated the application

came long time back and

they were awaiting govern-

ment decision in this re-

gard.

Six of the seven promot-

ers namely K Raheja & Cor-

poration, Peninsula Pharma

Research Centre, Plan-

etview Mercantile Co, Inox

Mercantile Company and

Paradigm Logistics & Distri-

bution approached the

Supreme Court.

A police dog at the scene of the murder at Vathadev-Bi-

cholim.

Sameer Umarye.

The murder was discov-

ered when Beig had sent a

person in search of Babi as

he had some work in his

house. When the person

went to the spot he was

shocked to find Babi dead in

a pool of blood.

Police said Babi was at-

tacked with a sharp weapon

and had three injuries, one

on his forehead and two at

the back.

A Bicholim police led by

PI Harish Madkaikar went

to the site to investigate the

case.

Fingerprint experts and a

police dog squad were also

pressed into service.

DySP Bossuet DSilva

also visited the site and took

the stock of the situation.

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, FEB 26: Goemchea

Rakhondarancho Awaz

(GRA), a newly formed collec-

tive group claiming them-

selves to be patriots, has given

a call to the people of Goa to

come together at the Azad

Maidan, here, on March 15

from 2.30 pm onwards to

highlight and protest against

the rampant corruption in

the State administration and

the Governments anti-people

policies.

Addressing a press con-

ference under the banner of

GRA, legal advisor Adv

Yatish Naik said, Awaz is a

movement which is not led

by a single leader but it has

representations from several

village and civil groups.

New entity gives clarion call Chalo Azad Maidan

Cops continuing with Bellarys murder probe

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, FEB 26: The

Maina Curtorim police on

Saturday has said the police

are continuing with investi-

gations to lay their hands on

the skull of deceased Sultan

Bellary in the headless body

murder case.

PI Sidhant Shirodkar said

the police are looking out for

the skull of the deceased.

With Bardez taluka

developing at a

rapid pace during

the last 10 years and given

phenomenal growth in pop-

ulation, there has been con-

siderable load on the

available water supply to

residents in the taluka.

Considering the gravity of

the situation, the Public

Works Department has initi-

ated measures to augment

water supply to residents of

Bardez taluka.

Speaking to Herald, Exec-

utive Engineer K H

Kamaldinni said the esti-

mated requirement of

potable water to Bardez

taluka is 85 Million Litres per

day (MLD).

Water treatment plants at

Assonora and Padosem pro-

duce ample quantity of

treated water. There are

seven pumps at Assonora

Reservoir and two trans-

formers 2,500 KVA and

1,600 KVA. Besides, there is

another transformer of 1,600

KVA, which has been kept as

stand-by, informed

Kamaldinni.

Of the seven, if six

pumps function round the

clock, Bardez taluka can get

full water supply regularly.

However, in case one of the

six pumps breakdowns, as it

happened recently, then

water supply to Bardez

taluka is reduced margin-

ally, explained Kamaldinni.

In this eventuality, the

people who are worst af-

fected are the ones who are

residing at the high-elevated

areas like Mapusa hilltop

and the tail end like Por-

vorim, added Kamaldinni.

He said there are 55

ground-level reservoirs in

Bardez taluka, while two

more, one each at Bastora

and Quitula-Aldona, have

been proposed by PWD.

Similarly, there are three

sumps and 20 overhead

reservoirs in Bardez. The

PWD has already proposed

four overhead reservoirs in

Bardez, he said.

The new water treatment

plant of 50 MLD at Assonora

has already started function-

ing since May 30, 2010. In the

first stage, 20 MLD water has

been released and the bal-

ance 30 MLD is expected to

be released by April 2011.

PWD officials feel that

once this new water treat-

ment plant starts function-

ing, water supply to Bardez

taluka will be increased to

nearly 100 MLD, which will

be sufficient to cater to the

requirement of Bardez

taluka even after considering

water leakage

and theft.

Assonora-

based Assis-

tant Engineer

(electrical)

Rumil Barreto said since the

water treatment plant at As-

sonora is working round the

clock, they have suggested to

the government to appoint

an electrical engineer for

night duty at the Assonora

Reservoir.

At present, there is no

electrical engineer for night

duty. If some electrical

problem arises during

night, there should be an of-

ficer on duty to attend to the

problem immediately, he

said.

When the appointment

of electrical engineer is made

for night duty, there will be

further improvement in the

functioning at the Assonora

reservoir, said Barreto.

4 www.oheraldo.in

avaz The mining lobby had misguided the cen-tral government by presenting a false envi-ronmental report to seek permission. AnNOC from the agriculture department mustbe made mandatory to establish miningactivities in the country. Youth Activist

The water requirement for Porvorim is 15MLD. If there are no technical faults or elec-trical problems at the Assonora reservoirand if water supply is smooth, then Por-vorim can get sufficient water supply evenduring the summer.

Goa I Sunday 27, February 2011

anil shankhwalker/ Bardez

water

Progress and Protest in North GoaThe relationship between progress and protest is similar to that of the proverbial chicken and the egg. Progress generallyleads to protest and vice-versa. Heralds team of correspondents have probed two key issues plaguing residents in twoparts of North Goa. Authorities in Bardez are under pressure to augment water supply to cater to demands of the swellingpopulation in Bardez taluka. On the other hand, authorities in Sattari are under pressure over growing public protestsagainst mining activities in Sattari taluka.

Development ups pressureon water supply in Bardez

Residents gather around a water tanker at Mapusa hill top.

Photo by Anil Shankwalker They may be situated at the extreme

ends of Bardez taluka, yet residents

of Porvorim closely monitor develop-

ments at a particular site in Assonora for

one main purpose.

This is because any problem in the water

treatment plant at Assonora will immedi-

ately trigger an acute water shortage in

Bardez taluka and residents of Porvorim

would be the worst affected lot, as they are

located at the tail end of the water supply.

Since Porvorim is a plateau, people have

to depend mainly on tap water. Whenever

there is water shortage, residents are forced

to hire water tankers to meet their require-

ment.

Though Porvorim plateau is the worst hit

by water supply in Bardez taluka, officials

of Public Works Department have claimed

that there is plenty of water storage capacity

at Porvorim.

According to PWD officials, there are

seven ground level reservoirs, two sumps

and eight overhead reservoirs. A reservoir

with a capacity of 650 cubic metres is under

construction at Ramnagar and four more

have been proposed by the PWD.

The water requirement for Porvorim is

15 MLD. If there are no technical faults or

electrical problems at the Assonora reser-

voir and if water supply is smooth, then Por-

vorim can get sufficient water supply even

during the summer, opined officials.

However, considering the pace of devel-

opment of Porvorim and surrounding areas,

as per the suggestion of Aldona MLA

Dayanand Narvekar, the PWD has pro-

posed a water treatment plant of 20 MLD at

Guirim.

Saligao MLA Dilip Parulekar has recom-

mended the site in Guirim Communidade.

Since Guirim Communidade has agreed to

offer land of 13,000 sq mtrs, the PWD has

undertaken the work of preparing the proj-

ect of water treatment plant at Guirim,

which is estimated to cost about Rs 20 crore.

The Tillari canal water will be utilized for

this treatment plant, but the only hitch is

that the treatment plant will not get water

for two months in November and Decem-

ber, due to annual maintenance of the Tillari

canal.

The plant, if commissioned, will remain

idle for two months due to non-supply of

Tillari canal water. The project will be sub-

mitted to the government shortly and if the

approval is received, the department plans

to complete the project within a year.

Por-wary over water shortage

Construction of an overhead water reservoir at Ramnagar-Alto Betim in

progress.

Photo by Anil Shankwalker

The underground water pipeline was meant to sup-ply water to various villages in Bardez taluka, but ithas been plagued by frequent breakdowns.In a bid to augment the water supply in the area,the PWD had laid an underground water pipelinefrom the Assonora Reservoir to supply water to thevillages of Aldona, Pomburpa, Olaulim, Salvador-do-Mundo, Penha-da-Franca and Nachinola.PWD Executive Engineer K H Kamaldinni said thepipeline has been frequently damaged due to heavybarge movement in the area.The barge filling point is close to this underwaterpipeline, repair of which is a difficult job and in-volves skilled manpower, which is not available eas-ily, said Kamaldinni.

Like the colour of the

ore, residents of Sat-

tari are now seeing

red over mining activities in

the taluka.

Various anti-mining com-

mittees have been formed by

affected villagers in the

taluka and among the

newest to join the anti-

mining bandwagon at the

Sattari Jagrut Yuva Mor-

cha and Janaseva Prathis-

tan at Sonal.

These committees have

accused authorities of trying

to renew old mine leases at

various places in the taluka

without taking villagers into

confidence.

Opposition to mining activ-

ities in Sattari is gaining mo-

mentum, with many

like-minded people and so-

cial activists supporting the

anti-mining committees in

their fight to reduce pollution,

destruction of environment,

illegal cutting of forest, etc.

Janaseva Pratishthan

members recently submit-

ted a representation to Sat-

tari Mamlatdar Satish Desai

alleging illegal mining activ-

ities at Gavanem-Sattari.

In a memorandum, the

group led by Adv Ganpat

Gaonker stated that a min-

ing company was carrying

out mining activities without

taking necessary permission

from various competent au-

thorities.

The environmental

clearance permission was

given to the mine by the

Ministry of Environment

and Forest subject to obtain-

ing clearance under Wildlife

Protection Act 1972 from the

competent authority, stated

the memorandum.

However, the proposal

for clearance under Forest

(Conservation) Act 1980 was

rejected by the Ministry of

Environment and Forest.

Mining activities which are

being carried out come

under the area of 1 km from

Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary,

added the memorandum.

The delegation further

pointed out that the mining

company has been illegally

using government land at

Gavanem to extraction,

dumping and rejection of ore.

The mining company is

posing a risk to public health

and agricultural land,

stated the delegation in the

memorandum.

About two months ago,

residents of Sonal had sub-

mitted a memorandum to

the union minister for envi-

ronment and forest, object-

ing to the renewal and grant

of a mining lease in Sonal-

Sanvordem in Sattari, as the

proposed mining area falls

within the purview of

Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary.

The memorandum signed

by Anti-mining Committee

President Shridhar Kale

stated that no mining lease

shall be granted in Sonal or

within the jurisdiction of

Sanvordem Panchayat and

it should be declared as a

mining-free zone area.

The villagers also pointed

out that the agriculture in

the area will be destroyed,

besides polluting wells and

river water if mining activi-

ties commence at Sonal.

Sattari residents see red over mining

Unhappy over the

State governments

eagerness to either

start new mines or renewal

of old mining leases in Sat-

tari taluka, a number of

youth have joined hands to

raise their concerns at a

higher level.

A group of youth and so-

cial activists from Sattari

taluka recently met the head

of an ecology expert panel on

Western Ghats appointed by

the ministry of environment.

A delegation that included

Adv Shivaji Dessai, Ranjit

Rane and Vishwesh Prabhu,

recently submitted a repre-

sentation to Prof Madhav

Gadgil, chairman of the ecol-

ogy expert panel on Western

Ghats appointed by the Min-

istry of Environment, who

was on a visit to the State.

While submitting the rep-

resentation, Dessai had also

raised a number of issues re-

lated to the mining lease at

Nagargao.

Dessai alleged that the

mining lobby had misguided

the central government by

presenting a false environ-

mental report to seek per-

mission.

An NOC from the agri-

culture department must be

made mandatory to estab-

lish mining activities in the

country, he said.

Ranjeet Rane highlighted

the importance of green for-

est and explained the conse-

quences of mining on

Mhadei River and Dabos

Water Treatment plant in

the region.

Another member of the

delegation, Vishwesh

Prabhu, highlighted about

the operation of illegal min-

ing activities in Sattari and

speeding trucks, which are

carrying ore without any re-

strictions.

Authorities are turning a

blind eye in the matter, he

alleged.

Raghu Gaonkar high-

lighted the ill-effects of min-

ing along the Mhadei

Wildlife Sanctuary. The

strong mining lobby is

preparing to set up mining in

this eco-sensitive zone, he

added.

After giving a patient

hearing to the youth, Prof

Gadgil assured them that the

issues raised would be in-

cluded in his report.

Sources informed that the

objective of the ecology ex-

pert panel is to demarcate

areas, which need to be noti-

fied as ecologically sensi-

tive, so that it could be

declared as restricted devel-

opment zones.

Speaking to Herald,

Vishvesh Parob and Ranjeet

Rane stated that Sattari

taluka in terms of environ-

ment is a sensitive zone and

it falls under the Western

Ghats, which makes it more

eco-sensitive.

Presently, some parts of

the taluka are reeling under

mining activities and the

State government is in the

mood to either set up new

mines or allow renewal of

old mining leases in the re-

Youth join anti-mining movement

ashraf khan / Sattari

mining

Mindful of growing public opposition to

mining activities in Sattari taluka, govern-

ment authorities are now under pressure

to act against those breaking the law.

Acting on a tip-off from locals, forest de-

partment officials recently seized a vehicle

with mining machinery from Paikul village

in Sattari taluka.

Suspecting foul play over the presence of

the vehicle with mining machinery near

Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary check post on

January 25, the villagers had alerted the

anti-mining activists.

However, before any action could be taken,

the driver bypassed the check-post and di-

verted the machinery through a remote

area and entered into Paikul.

When locals questioned the driver, they

were allegedly told that it had been

brought to restart mining activities at the

site located in the village.

The locals immediately alerted the forest

departments mobile squad. Later, forest

officials nabbed the accused for illegally in-

truding in the forest area under Forest Act

and after conducting the panchanama, the

vehicle carrying the machinery was also

detained in the connection.

PWD Official

MERCES, FEB 26: With the

hardworking PWD workers

unable to solve the problem

of low water pressure at

Temba in Merces, a decision

was ultimately arrived at,

that as a solution, a separate

and dedicated water

pipeline should be laid,

catering only to the Temba

area in Merces.

Herald had, on Friday, re-

ported how low water pres-

sure had affected the

villagers in Temba and how

they had to burn the mid-

night oil to collect their quota

of water.

The PWD workers who

had been working since Fri-

day to solve the problem

could not meet with any suc-

cess on Saturday, too, as the

pressure was simply too low.

And to add to the problem,

the GI pipeline that is sup-

plying water to the area had

corroded.

Later, Rudolf Fernandes,

son of local MLA Victoria

Fernandes, arrived at the

spot to take stock of the

progress being made, but

when the PWD workers told

him that only a separate

pipeline would solve the

problem, Rudolf immedi-

ately called AE Chavan to

visit the area and work out a

solution.

On his arrival, AE Chavan

consulted the PWD workers,

and after insistence from

Rudolf and the villagers, as-

sured that the PWD would

immediately begin the

process of laying a separate

pipeline.

However, since laying a

pipeline would take more

than a week, Chavan in-

formed that he would

send two water tankers,

one in the morning and

one in the evening, to

cater to the water require-

ments of the area.

But, at the time of going to

the press, there were no signs

of any water tanker, much to

the dismay of the Temba lo-

cals.

AE assures

separate

water pipeline

for Temba

residentsHERALD CORRESPONDENT

goa

5 www.oheraldo.in

Goa I Sunday 27, February 2011

The Gandhi Market vendors would wait for 15

days for the municipal administration to initi-

ate action against illegal vendors before

chalking out the future course of action. Rajendra Azgaonkar

The time has come for all of us to fight against

the polluting industries. If authorities are not

taking the matter seriously, then it is we the

people who will have to take an action. Actvist Ghaisas

SNAPSHOT

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

MARCEL, FEB 26: Vil-lagers from Parampai andKaranzal wards in MarcaimPanchayat have demandedstern action against one ofthe alleged polluting units atMarcaim IDC.

The residents have

claimed that the unit has be-

come a health hazard to the

people living in the area.

The unit, which is located in

the Marcaim IDC, is barely

few metres away from these

two wards, informed the vil-

lagers.

Villagers have claimed that

the unit is creating air and

noise pollution and the unit

has even illegally dumped

slag into the open space. Vil-

lagers fear that slag dumped

may come down with rain-

water into their houses.

Since 2003, we had initi-

ated agitation against this

unit, but till date authorities

have failed to act. People are

facing problem due to this

unit. There is difficulty in

breathing and many a times

sleepless nights because of

noise pollution, said former

Marcaim sarpanch Erasmo

Aguiar.

During our agitation in

2003, we had submitted

memorandums to all the gov-

ernment departments and

even to our local MLA. But

hardly anything had been

done so far. The delay by au-

thorities has resulted in peo-

ples suffering from varied

kinds of problems, added

Aguiar.

With authorities allegedly

failing to act, the villagers

stated that they are now com-

pelled to agitate.

The time has come for all

of us to fight against the pol-

luting industries. If authori-

ties are not taking the matter

seriously, then it is we the

people who will have to take

an action. We are committed

to the cause and will see to it

that such industries are shut

down, said Madkaim Na-

grik Kruti Sammitti Presi-

dent Mahabaleshwar

Ghaisas.

Hey poloy, goyche log

aiylya (see the Goan people

have come), said a migrant

child playing outside their

rented premises barely me-

tres away from the Madkaim

Industrial Estate, as media

persons along with villagers

were walking towards the

site where a unit had al-

legedly dumped slag in the

open area.

So you can imagine the

number of migrant popula-

tion working in this unit. We

are referred as outsiders. If

this the situation now, then

god knows in few years what

will be the situation, said

Ghaisas.

Villagers further claimed

that a unit has dumped large

amount of slag in the open

area.

The unit without any per-

mission dumped a large

quantity of slag in the land

belonging to Marcaim Com-

munidade. There is no com-

pound wall and during rains

the waste is bound to enter

our village along with the

running water, said Ponda

Block Shiv Sena Chief Kam-

lakant Naik.

This, I feel will have an

adverse effect on our health.

It is high time that govern-

ment should take a stern ac-

tion against the unit in the

interest of the people, added

Naik.

Added Ghaisas, This unit

is causing so much pollution

that our health is affected and

in few years our younger gen-

eration will suffer a lot.

Marcaim villagers demandaction against polluting units

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, FEB 26: Margaopolice descended at the Mar-gao Municipal building onFriday after vendors from theGandhi Market led by Rajen-dra Azgaonkar, brother ofPanchayat Minister, BabuAzgaonkar came to meet theChief Officer PrasannaAcharya with their long-pending grievances.

When Azgaonkar made his

presence felt in the civic body

along with 20-25 vendors, the

Chief Officer was conspicu-

ous by his absence and as-

sured the former that he

would reach the building

within minutes. However, the

vendors were surprised to see

a strong posse of policemen

entering the building as they

maintained that they have

come only to discuss with the

Chief Officer their problems.

When Acharya finally ar-

rived in the office, he was

asked to explain the failure of

the municipal administration

to crack a whip against illegal

vendors doing brisk business

along the station road. Az-

gaonkar pointed out that ille-

gal vendors spread across the

city have adversely affected

the genuine vendors in the

markets and called for action

against the illegalities.

Incidentally, Azgaonkar

later told newsmen that the

Chief Officer spoke about il-

legalities in the Gandhi Mar-

ket and the inaction by the

municipal inspectors. I have

told the Chief Officer to go

ahead with action against any

illegality in the Gandhi Mar-

ket. I told the CO that it was

for him to initiate action dis-

ciplinary action against any

erring staff, he added.

Azgaonkar said the ven-

dors would wait for 15 days

for the administration to initi-

ate action before chalking out

the future course of action.

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, FEB 26: The deci-

sion to cancel and de-recog-

nise seats for MDS (post

graduate) courses in Goa

Dental College (GDC) has

created a panic among the

students aspiring for the

course.

Dental students in a writ-

ten representation to the Goa

Governor S S Sidhu have ap-

pealed to look into the matter

which has arisen because of

ill-equipped machinery in the

college.

It has been informed to us

by the Dean of GDC that the

admission to the post gradu-

ate courses will be stopped

from the academic year 2011-

12 due to lack of affiliation by

the Goa University (GU) with

just few days remaining for

the admission process to

begin in March, the letter

reads.

The students were in-

formed by the GU that GDC

is not equipped with the lat-

est machinery and infra-

structure and hence it does

not comply with the require-

ments that are mentioned by

the GUs Affiliation Inquiry

Committee (AIC). But they

claim that the GDC has com-

plied with all necessities put

forth by the Dental Colleges

of India.

With GDC the only dental

college in the State, the stu-

dents complain that can-

celling and de-recognising

the post graduate seats would

only deprive them of higher

studies.

It is injustice and unfair

to the students aspiring for

MDS courses in Goa due to

the last minute decision

cancelling and de-recog-

nising seats without prior

notice to the students. Our

career is at stake the

letter signed by five stu-

dents further reads.

GU had fixed the last date

to respond to the fulfillment

of the requirement by the

GDC on March 2, 2011.

Students said that they

have made futile attempts to

meet concerned authorities

and the health minister, while

also claiming the GDC dean

has shown no compliance

with the GU to reply to con-

clusion by the AIC.

The distressed students

have given a copy of their

representation to Chief Min-

ister Digambar Kamat,

Health Minister Vishwajeet

Rane, Leader of Opposition

Manohar Parrikar, GU Vice

Chancellor Dileep De-

obagkar and GDC Dean P K

Chandra.

MDS cancellation:dental students seekGuvs intervention

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, FEB 26: In an ap-

parent cover-up in a case of

alleged assault, Panjim po-

lice have refused to take ac-

tion against Zito Jude

George of assaulting a Her-

ald staffer, late on Friday

night.

Zito, is incidentally the

brother of ADC to Governor

Bosco George. On Friday, at

about 10:30 pm, Chandan

DSa was on his way to cover

an event was assaulted by

two persons one of whom he

identified as Zito.

When I reached Cortim

with my colleague to cover

Saraswat food festival, a car

abruptly stopped in front of

us and two men including

Zito came out of the car and

started beating me with fist

blows and kicks. I ran inside

a nearby bar to save myself

but they still chased me,

Chandan said.

He also heard a womans

voice from inside the car ask-

ing the assailants to kill him.

He said, I called up the po-

lice from my mobile phone

but they did not entertain

my complaint. I later ap-

proached the Panjim police

station in person to file a for-

mal complaint.

The police referred him

for medical examination

after which Chandan lodged

a complaint. However, the

police first refused to take his

complaint and later regis-

tered a non-cognizable com-

plaint stating that the

injuries were not grievous.

The police sub-inspector

on duty was A P Velip. While

I was filing complain, Hawal-

dar Ramesh Desai suggested

me to retaliate back at Zito

and group by forming my

own gang. I replied that it is

their duty to take police ac-

tion, he stated.

The Herald colleague who

has witnessed the assault is

still not called for recording

his statement even as the

Heralds editor intervened.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

MERCES, FEB 26: The Chaka Chakteam comprising Patricia Pinto, FrankyGracias and Valerie Madredeus visitedthe Merces panchayat, on Saturday, towork out modalities on how to begin theprocess of tackling plastic menace whichhas engulfed the village.

Also present at the meeting was local

MLA Victoria Fernandes, apart from

Merces Sarpanch Deepika Shirgaonkar,

deputy Sarpanch Yatin Palekar, garbage

committee members and concerned cit-

izens.

Initiating the proceedings, Patricia ex-

plained the panchayat authorities about

the government schemes which could

be availed by the panchayat to tackle

garbage.

She further made them aware of two

schemes namely 'plastic menace

scheme' and 'rural garbage scheme',

which could be utilized by the panchay-

ats to solve the garbage woes.

Patricia then laid emphasis on tack-

ling the plastic menace first, and in-

formed that except Parra, no other

panchayat has availed of the 'plastic

menace scheme'.

Explaining further, Patricia said that

under this scheme, initially the pan-

chayat is provided Rs 25000 and the

plastic collected is taken for recycling by

a government-appointed contractor.

However, she said that before they

begin the process of plastic collection,

there is a need to chalk out a plan on

how to go about it.

"After a plan is put in place, awareness

should be created among the public on

segregating plastic," she added and also

emphasized on putting in place the facil-

ities that are needed to store the col-

lected plastic.

After much discussion, the members

present reached a decision that instead

of implementing the programme in en-

tire Merces, the village could be divided

into zones and the programme could be

implemented in one zone, and depend-

ing on the success in this zone, it could

then be implemented in the other zone.

Accordingly, the garbage committee

members suggested that the Shantaban,

Kumbarvaddy, Firguem Bhat and sur-

rounding areas should be clubbed in one

zone and the programme could be

launched there.

Later, as a first step, the Chaka Chak

team and the Merces VP decided that a

public meeting will be held on March 13

at the Maruti Temple, Kumbarvaddy, to

create awareness among the locals on

plastic menace, which will be then fol-

lowed by a door-to-door campaign.

Chaka Chak team member Franky

Gracias also emphasized that constant

follow-up on the issue will have to be

done, if the programme has to be suc-

cessful.

"We will extend whatever help and

guidance is required," Franky assured,

but added that the co-operation of the

people and the panchayat authorities is

a must to carry the programme forward.

The Chaka Chak team also extended

its full co-operation to the panchayat in

availing the government schemes and

showed willingness to personally create

awareness along with the garbage com-

mittee and the panchayat authorities, as

and when necessary.

The team members also urged the

panchayat secretary to keep a tab on

shopkeepers who are selling plastic bags

below 40 microns, which is banned, and

to fine the violators.

Chaka Chak team, Merces VP joinhands to tackle plastic menace

Workshop on Right to Information PANJIM (HND): Associacao Academica de Moira and

Asha Family Responsibilities & Rights Association will

conduct a Workshop on Right to Information in

Konkani and English on March 6 at AA Moira Club

Hall from 5 pm to 6.30 pm. Registration is free. For

details call 9822166876 / 9623454450 or e-mail:

trustasha@yahoo.co.in.

Passing out paradePANJIM (HND): The passing out parade of 47th batch

of fire fighter recruits of Arunachal Pradesh Govern-

ment who have undergone six-month elementary

course in fire fighting at Goa State Fire Force Training

Centre will be held on February 28 at Fire Force

Headquarters, Training Center, St Inez, Panjim, from

10 am onwards.

HSSC seating arrangements PANJIM (HND): At Rosary HSS, Navelim Sub Center

for Commerce Whole 62057 to 62348 and 62350 to

62569; for Exemption 62570 to 62620 and 63761.

At RMS HSS (Damodar College of Commerce,

Comba, Margao) Sub Center for Arts Whole 61866 to

62033 and 62349; Exemption 62034 to 62056; Sci-

ence whole 62621 to 62765; Exemption 62766 to

62770; Vocational whole 62771 to 62851 and

62853 to 63019; Exemption 63020.

Nuvem civic forum meetPANJIM (HND): The Nuvem Civic and Consumer

Forum (NCCF) will have its monthly general meeting

of consumers on Sunday, February 27, at 10:15 am

at Mae dos Pobres High School, Nuvem. Among the

issues to be discussed are Road Safety & Traffic

Management, Identity Cards & benefits for Senior Cit-

izens, LPG matters and Water and Sanitation.

Arts & crafts exhibition PANJIM (HND): `Spirit of Goa an arts and crafts exhi-

bition cum sale will be organised at Leonoras Gallery,

Verna on Sunday, February 27 to March 15.

Artists - Piety D'Silva, David Flaviano Fernandes, Si-

mona Fernandes, Chaze Galleries Collection and

Pradeep Naik collection will be showcasing the prod-

ucts. Paintings of oil, acrylic, watercolors on

canvas/paper, tribal art, China art and ceramics will

be on display. The exhibition will remain open from

10 am to 9 pm at Leonoras Gallery, Verna.

St Francis Xavier novena PANJIM (HND): The novena of Grace in honour of St

Francis Xavier at Bom Jesus Basilica, Old Goa, will be

held from March 4 to 12. The novena masses from

March 4 to 11 (except March 6) at 7 am, 8 am, 4.30

pm and 5.30 pm will be in Konkani and at 6.30 pm

in English. Way of the Cross will be held everyday at

3.30 pm. On March 6, novena masses in Konkani will

be at 7 am, 8 am, 9.15 am, 4.30 pm and 5.30 pm; in

English at 10.15 am and 6.30 pm.

On March 12, masses will be held in Konkani at 7

am, 8 am and 9.30 am (High Mass). After the 9.30

am Mass, there will be Penitential Procession starting

from Bom Jesus Basilica to the Church of the Miracu-

lous Cross (Khuris Milagre) atop Boa Vista Hill at Old

Goa. After the Penitential procession, there will be a

Mass in the Church of the Miraculous Cross, at 4.30

pm, 5.30 pm (both in Konkani) and 6.30 pm (in Eng-

lish). On March 6, there will be a Mass at the Chapel

of St Francis Xavier (near the petrol pump) at Old Goa

at 10 am.

Tide chart: February 27 High Tide: 0539; 2034: Low Tide: 0022; 1248

Police descend on Margao municipal building

Cops trying to hush up assault on Herald staffer?

HERALD REPORTER

VASCO, FEB 26: Barely

few hours after Mormugao

Municipal Council (MMC)

cracked a whip on defaulters,

who failed to clear rent, MMC

enchased nearly Rs 7 lakh in

its treasury.

MMC on Friday com-

menced its drive to seal the

shops and commercial estab-

lishments that were rented

out, as MMC had to recover

nearly Rs 4 crore as rent dues

from the defaulters.

However, within few hours

after MMC officials sealed

three shops, the defaulters

made their presence felt at

the council to clear their

dues.

MMC sealed three shops in

Vasco area, one near Goa Sa-

hakar Bhandar, two in old

market. We have received

nearly Rs 6.82 lakh within

few hours after sealing drive

commenced, said MMC

Chief Officer Gopal Parsekar.

Vasco cracks down on rentdefaulters

Mahabaleshwar Ghaisas

Remove traffic bottlenecks at NuvemHERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, FEB 26: The

South Goa Traffic Regulatory

Committee on Saturday has

called for removing traffic

bottlenecks at Nuvem and to

complete the old market cir-

cle-Damodar College ring

road at the earliest.

The meeting chaired by

District Magistrate, G P Naik

deliberated on the traffic sce-

nario in South Goa district

and mooted a slew of meas-

ures for streamlining traffic

at perennial bottlenecks.

Briefing newsmen after

the meeting, the district mag-

istrate said that superinten-

dent of police, traffic has

underlined the need to im-

prove the traffic scenario

along the NH-17 at Nuvem.

In this respect, Naik said that

work on the Majorda bypass

would be completed on a pri-

ority basis to give relief for

traffic heading to Margao

from Nuvem.

He said the meeting has is-

sued directions to the author-

ities to remove the poles

coming within the road

widening area.

Ever so often these days, I get ac-

costed by my friends and this is

what they say, It is time to

launch a massive movement by all of us

Goans, like the Egyptians, As if all

movements are as easy as a bowel

movement. Talk they say, is cheap.

Sadly, Democracy is even cheaper.

Like a scintillating, searing magnum

opus that even Holly wood could not

dream of, we are proud to witness one

of the most epoch making periods in

our planets contemporary history. The

entire Arab world is ablaze with the

feverish emotion of revolt.

Tunisia and Egypt have fallen. Libya,

Bahrain and Yemen are creaking at the

gates of paradise. Blood has been

spilled, sacrifices made, and we are al-

most an integral part of these countrys

histories via live TV and the internet.

Their struggle for freedom and democ-

racy is forever ours.

So, wheres the difference??? Cant

we get rid of our home grown despots

The little men who have set this little

land of ours down a suicidal path of dis-

aster? A press of the voting button is so

much easier. No? Than pressing a trig-

ger? So, why cant the change occur?

And therein lies our collective

tragedy, if not farce.

Whereas Mubarak and Gadaffi kept

their ill gotten wealth restricted to fam-

ily and a coterie, our family concerns

that rule us; the Alemaos, the Monser-

ates, the Ranes and the Dhavlikars

spread the largesse like a generous dose

of butter to almost everyone in their

constituencies.

All of us are welcome to the party, in

true carnival style, to partake of the

feast which consists of exotic, wonderful

delicacies, even if laced with arsenic. So

why bother about democracy, account-

ability and transparency? That is for

tireless (and thankfully tiresome) ac-

tivists and journalists and thinking citi-

zens to fret about.

Today, we are drunk silly, all at the

cost of our earth and our trees, our

rivers and our hills. The booze just does

not seem to stop. So why grumble? But

someday, the hangover will have to set

in and the unsustainable bubble will

have to burst.

And then, the monstrous Marie An-

toinettes and Louis XVI that we our-

selves have created will exclaim. They

dont have water??? Really? Why dont

they drink alcohol instead? And the

French connection would seem com-

plete.

The subtle yet humungous difference

between the Arabs and us therefore is

this; the Arabs are waging a spectacular,

gutsy and winning battle against

wealthy ensconced tyrants addicted to

oil and power.

We, the brilliant people of Goa and

India, are hell bent on jeopardising and

squandering the glorious fruits of

democracy that our founding fathers,

created for us selflessly, spectacularly

and seamlessly.

By bartering our votes, and our con-

science as well, for thirty pieces of silver,

we are slowly but surely nurturing feu-

dal lords and dangerous tyrants ad-

dicted to mines and real estate, who will

then crush us relentlessly to keep their

grip on power for a eons to come.

Democracy be damned!

The gale storm is approaching! With-

out doubt!!!

My guess is that it will take our grand

children to overthrow these kings and

their progeny, in an Egyptian style rev-

olution, 80 years down the line when

the cauldron finally comes to a boil.

Hence let us celebrate as the Arab

world marches forward, and mourn

while we stubbornly refuse to see the

writing on the wall, and determinedly

march backwards, a cocky smile on our

faces and our eyes wide shut. Vive La

Revolucion!

Dr Oscar Rebello has Goa in his heart

and wears it on his sleeve. He needs no

introduction!

opinion6 www.oheraldo.in

Agreed that the police force has much tohide or at the very least not much to writehome about. But at no point of time can itattempt to deny the media information.

Edit

My guess is that it will take our grand chil-dren to overthrow these kings and theirprogeny, in an Egyptian style revolution,80 years down the line when the cauldronfinally comes to a boil.

Dr Oscar Rebello

WEEKENDEDIT

Vol. No CXI No. 58 I Goa I Sunday 27, February 2011

PEOPLESEDIT

Editor-in-chief: Mr R F Fernandes. Editor: Sujay Gupta (Responsible under PRB

Act). Regd Office: St Tome Road, Panjim, Goa. Tel: 2224202, 2228083, Fax:

6658510 (all Editorial); 2230535, Fax: 2225622 (Advertising); Margao:

2737689. Mumbai Office: 16-A, Bell Building, 2nd Floor, 19 Sir PM Road, Fort,

Mumbai - 400001 (Tel: 22840702/22844908). RNI No: 43667/83.

Printed and published by Vinayak Pai Bir for and on be-

half of Herald Publications Pvt Ltd. Printed at Herald Pub-

lications Pvt Ltd, Plot No: L-135, Phase II, Verna

Industrial Estate, Verna, Salcete, Goa. Published at PO

Box 160, Rua Sao Tome, Panjim, Goa - 403001.

HOW TO CONTACT US: mail@herald-goa.com For press notes, general queries. reporters@herald-goa.com For Reporters.

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Sports news. advt@herald-goa.com For Advertisements.

Disclaimer: Except for the editorial above, articles and letters in Herald represent the views of the concerned authors, and do not necessarily

reflect the views of the Herald editor, publisher, and/or owners.

For l etters to the edi tor contact us at ed itor weekend@herald -goa.com

dr OScar rEBEllO

Walk like an Egyptian!SHOOTING FROM THE HIP

Its mostly when you get to a land-

mark date in your life that you start

to take stock of yourself and what

you do. When birthdays start to edge

closer, you can either grin a toothy one

or shudder with trepidation.

When your age is in single digits, you

look forward to a party with balloons,

streamers and loads of presents. When

you get to your teens, you hope that the

girl you have a crush on will come and

wish you, probably the closest your

pimpled-ridden cheek will be to hers.

When youre in your twenties, you wake

up the next morning with a bad

headache, while checking to see that

the boys didnt play a prank and leave

you with no clothes on.

When youre in your thirties, you will

probably head to the nearest mirror to

count your grey hair. Or in my case,

check to see if there are any black

strands left at all. Its funny how birth-

days matter, but on a different level al-

together. Earlier, I would count down

from a week to ten days before. Now, I

dont even care that its just two days

away. (Dear Bento clan, I hope youre

paying attention)

At this point in life, aunts, uncles and

all your married friends call you up and

wish youand then ask you when

youre getting married. And somehow,

even though there are a dozen sarcastic

quips bouncing around your head, you

decide to politely brush it off. Its funny,

as your age increases, so does your

weight, your wrinkles, the aches and

pains, even the number of times you

head to the loo.

If Miles Davis only knew that Id bor-

rowed a title of one of my favourite jazz

albums ever, by him, as a part of the title

to this freewheelin but bordering on

manic depressive middle, he would

probably throw one of his precious

trumpets at me.

Not that I would mind, it would look

good on my mantelpiece, placed strate-

gically next to my Live in Newport LP. I

just had to rub that in, to any jazz fans

reading this.

Just recently I was browsing through

and reconnecting with old friends and

former classmates on a social network-

ing site. A guy, who I was in secondary

school with, told me that his dad came

here in the 80s and worked for Herald,

at that time when things were just pick-

ing up.

Another one posts photographs of us

when I got my first job at a music store.

Whenever I sit and chat with one of my

best friends, who Ive known for 25

years, we reminisce about the crazy

things we did as kids play catch dur-

ing a fete all over the school ground. We

were eight, we didnt know any better.

Fast forward to college, when I would

get on my second hand Yezdi that Id

conveniently started using, relegating

dad to pedestrian status, and head to

Benaulim with friends for a swim, or

head to one of their houses to watch

them practice for the Arlem Festival

dance competition.

I end up meeting some of them even

today, one whos just had his first child

or one who still puts his foot in his

mouth every time he opens it. Some of

them live far away, or have busy sched-

ules, or both, including having a family

of their own. But when we meet, its like

weve gone back in time.

Life makes you realise that as you

grow older, its these little meetings that

make it all worthwhile. And, that all you

need are a few faces around you that

matter.

It also has a way to making you re-

alise that certain things should stop

being so important.

Like numbers, for instance. Lets face

it at the end of the day, I still feel 21! I

think

BENTO AT THE TINTO

Kind of blue when grey hair attacks!

Kurt BEntO

find us on facebook

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OrlandO S a da Silva

The decision of the Goa gov-

ernment to arbitrarily grant

licences to the Raheja mega-

project in Carmona when the matter

is before the District Court is noth-

ing but dictatorship and political

hubris. The Town and Country

Planning (TCP) Department has is-

sued the final NOC for Raheja to de-

velop approximately 88,000-odd sq

metres on the banks of the Sal, sub-

divided into 15 plots, with the condi-

tion that no secondary permission

will be granted unless land for a 10-

metre access road is acquired and

built. As per a circular dated 29 Au-

gust 2008 issued by the same depart-

ment under the directives of the

Chief Minister, a mandatory road

must be physically present at the

site, even while granting the conver-

sion sanads, and much before any

physical development.

The question is, has our CM done

this to save his government owing to

Churchill Alemaos blackmailing

tactics? The people of Carmona

unanimously opposed the project by

a gram sabha resolution on 30

March 2007. The village Regional

Plan committee also resolved to op-

pose widening of internal village

roads beyond 5 metres width. On 7

February, a fresh letter was written

to all the above authorities, inform-

ing them about the revision petition

filed before the district court at Mar-

gao, and warning that any decision

in violation would amount to con-

tempt of court. But none of them has

replied. The Rahejas have violated

the Forest Act by destroying all the

private forest. They have been fined

by the Forest Department. They

have violated the Environment Act

by laying an RCC sewage pipeline to

drain waste into the river Sal. They

have violated the Town and Country

Planning Act by developing plots in

the non-development (CRZ) zone.

I want to ask the following ques-

tions to Chief Minister Digambar

Kamat and PWD Minister Churchill

Alemao:

(1) When there is no possibility of

a 10-metre road being built unless

peoples houses and compounds are

demolished, where the promised 10-

metre road come from?

(2) Are rules and regulations ap-

plicable only to the aam admi and

not to Raheja? The aam admi has

to take Forest Dept permission to

cut even one tree and follow TCP

rules to construct even a small resi-

dential house.

(3) Can the government acquire

and broaden the existing road to 10-

metres width? This road was earlier

acquired under an award dated 21

July 2000, to be six metres wide.

(4) Who are the beneficiaries of

this mega project? Our MLA

Churchill Alemao says this project

will create jobs. The jobs offered

may be of security personnel and

domestic servants. Goa is a highly

educated state; who would want

their children to take up these jobs?

(5) The Rahejas have laid a ce-

ment pipeline to discharge waste

into the river Sal. The River Sal is a

source of ground water recharge for

the locality; our wells are recharged

by this river. It is also source of ma-

rine food for locals.

(6) Carmona village has very little

land for housing; most of the land is

agricultural. Where will future gen-

erations get land for housing if

builders are allowed to flout all rules

and regulation for huge commercial

projects?

(7) Can anyone cite one single

way in which this project will ben-

efit locals and their future genera-

tions?

Carmona is not Rahejas bhatt

FACEBOOK

We, the brilliant peo-ple of Goa and India,are hell bent on jeop-ardising and squan-dering the gloriousfruits of democracythat our founding fa-thers, created for usselflessly, spectacu-larly and seamlessly.

The conspiracyof silence

As a newspaper, our job is to ask questions. Tough or uncom-

fortable questions, questions for clarity or for better per-

ception, so that these answers can be given to the biggest

sovereign in the state, the people of Goa. Over the years, the rela-

tionship between the press and the executive has become strained

because while we think and hope that we are doing our job, the ex-

ecutive is not doing its job of answering questions. Nowhere is this

stifling of all questions more evident than in the home department

and its extension the police.

The Director General of Police, Mr BS Bassi has perfected the art

of avoiding the press. Herald reporters and we are sure our col-

leagues in other media as well are tired and disgusted at the child-

ish manner in which Bassi avoids the press. When you call his office,

his staff says he is out and helpfully asks you to call on his cell. That

either rings or is switched off. As lunch hour approaches, the excuse

turns to, Hes gone home for lunch. When you call home, it always

is, He has just left after lunch. So, you presume that he is midway

and call on the cell. And the cycle continues.This is repeated ad in-

finitum with other officers, including the spokesperson of the Goa

police Atmaram Deshpande.

Agreed that the police force has much to hide or at the very least

not much to write home about. But at no point of time can it attempt

to deny the media information. It must understand that closing of

communication is the biggest folly it could commit. Whoever is the

author of this strategy is doing great disservice to the police force

and the government. Moreover, right from the time PSI Gudlar was

caught trying to sell drugs to the sister and girlfriend of drug lord

Dudu, to the time the Panjim police was found charged with the tor-

ture and homicidal death of Cipriano Fernandes, the media has kept

things simple. When facts are not palatable, the police cant blame

the suppliers but the cooks. And the cooks are in their own kitchen.

The media is facing a tough ask. It has to cut through this con-

spiracy of silence of the police, dig deep to unearth the truth through

a network which is on the fringes of the police and use the Right to

Information to brutal effect. All this to ensure that the common man

does is not forced into shock and silence by this huge conspiracy

played by the state. Silence is not a defense mechanism. It has been

used by the police as an effective weapon to counter attack. When

officers are guilty of literally bei