CITIZENS VOICE
Dear Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai,
I LIVE down a narrow residential lane in the Bay View area of Dona Paula. Most of the residences along my side of the lane belong to the Taleigao Panchayat and the other side of this lane falls in Municipality jurisdiction. This tiny approach road is common for both the department Panchayat and Municipality from years and it appears there is a move to change the Zone from S1 to C1 to fulfill the requirements of this illegal eight-storeyed high rise building.
However, one residence in between “belongs” to the Municipality. This conveniently allowed the owner and S S Builders to apply for permission to build this eight-storeyed building on a 450sqmts area. Approvals from various departments have been taken fraudulently or without due diligence on the part of the authorities. The building is without proper parking facilities and has no proper approach road.
Perusal of plans available in the NGPDA file inspected by me shows that the width of this road where this construction is going on is shown to be 10 metres on record, whereas the existing road in reality is approximately just four to five metres wide. Already vehicular traffic is getting congested and trucks of cement, sand and other heavy materials come in reverse gear from the main road.
Already we are suffering with water and power issues down our narrow lane. Yet the administration thinks it can handle the demands of this new monster building for additional people. Now, we heard that to cover up the parking problems for this existing building the Tourism Department is trying to help this particular builder by offering parking slots about 60 metres distance away where work is presently in progress in the name of a bus stand for tourists!
What is most reprehensible is that this “parking area”’ is across the main Dona Paula-Bambolim road (Dr E Borges Road), right across a steep slope where the road suddenly narrows. Moving from the building to the parking zone means massive additional traffic across what is already an accident-prone zone where many accidents have taken place.
The following departments have issued approvals long ago but have not renewed them (see photos reproduced here): (1) TCP, (2) CCP, (3) Directorate of Fire & Services, (4) Health, (5) Tourism, (6) Electricity Department. Several complaints from residents have been lodged over the years with various authorities but as far as I know there has been no fruitful response from any department.
Since I have been told there is still an opportunity for us residents to stop this construction and get an order for demolition if the authorities take proper steps. I am appealing to Your Excellency, perhaps with your long experience in Mizoram and Kerala you can help us out by looking into this matter and advise us what we residents in such an area can do for suitable action to stop such ill-conceived urban planning.
Yours sincerely,
Stephen Dias, Dona Paula, Panaji.
HIGHER SECONDARY SCIENCE
THE Directorate of Education has made it clear that entrance to the Science stream of 12th standard will only be permitted on the basis of a test.
A common entrance exam is expected to be held either on July 27 or July 28, 2021. This is in response to reports that many Higher Secondary schools have already started giving admissions based on the digital results sheet.
The State government has also asked the Centre to reduce the gap in vaccine jab for school staff from 84 to 30 days.
BELGAVI BUSES RESUMED
THE Kadamba Transportation Corporation will be resuming its regular bus services from Goa to Belgavi, Karwar and Sawantwadi from August 1. Even if one person is found covid-19 positive the entire bus will turned back. Only people who present an antigen test result and RT-PCR test done within the last 72 hours will be allowed to board the bus. Hope this happens in real time for the smaller and larger good of Goa!
BAGA ROADS UNSAFE!
THE roads in the Baga-Calangute area are sinking and placing the lives of vehicle owners at risk. There have been four incidents of sinking roads down this coastal road. Citizens and tourist have been warned against visiting Calangute and Baga, particularly at night. The roads have reportedly sunk due to substandard work on sewage projects!
`DAINIK BHASKAR’ RAIDED
AS part of the continuing attack on independent media which refuses to bend, bow or crawl, `Dainik Bhaskar’ — the biggest Hindi newspaper daily, with multiple editions spread over Indore, Bhopal, Jaipur, Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmadabad, was raided by Income-Tax officers on Thursday, July 22, 2021. Searches were conducted on the UP-based media group and its editor in a tax evasion case. The searches were part of an investigation into silencing the `Dainik Bhaskar’ group which has been very critical of the Modi government functioning. The group also has interests in power, textiles and real estate with a total turnover of Rs6,000 crore.
SAFA MASJID DAMAGED
THE oldest heritage mosque in Goa — the beautiful Safa Masjid which dates back to the 16th century, when Adil Shah ruled ruling Goa, has suffered damages due to heavy rains on Thursday, July 22. A portion of laterite stones loosened and led to collapse of a part of the structure, says Archaeological Survey of India reports. The Safa Masjid is a listed historical monument and the only surviving mosque in Ponda built by the Bijapur Sultan in Indo-Islamic style, it is built on a raised platform.