<p>Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of News Item titled "sand mafia is taking complete control of illegal river sand mining" appearing in O Heraldo dated 13.02.2024.</p> <p>The
Miscreants felled about 100 fruit-bearing plants, including over 50 coconut saplings, at a farm in Vaddy-Merces. The incident, which is believed to have occurred in the wee hours of Friday, became known only in the morning when the daughters of the owner, Anthony Pereira, went to the farm. Though the exact reason behind the incident is not known, Mr Pereira and his family suspect that the incident could be linked to a tenants' association, of which Mr Pereira is the vice chairman.
Nearly thirty years after Goa made the first payment towards Tillari project, engineers in Maharashtra say that it is little more than a year away from completion even as the cost has jumped to Rs 1390 crore from the first estimate of Rs 45 crore in 1978-79. The joint venture of Maharashtra and Goa is scheduled to cater to the needs of irrigation, domestic and industrial water supply and power generation, officials told media persons who were on a tour to Konalkatta on Friday.
The Central Empowerment Committee of the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the State Government to probe into the Prafulla Hede mines at Collem, which is allegedly operating on forest land. The CEC today ordered a probe and in a letter to the Chief Secretary asked the State Government to respond in the matter. It has asked the Government to find whether the mine was operating in violation of forest conservation rules. A second letter has been made to the Chief Conservator of Forests to know how Prafulla Hede mine had encroached upon 1,000 sq m of forestland.
Non-removal of waste from the South Goa Planning and Development and the adjoining acquired land prompted some vendors to set tones of waste afire on Wednesday evening. The vendors maintained that the Margao Civic body has been irregular in clearing the waste, which gives a bad look to the mega market, visited by thousands of customers every day. This is not the first time that the Margao Civic body has failed to clear the waste from the market despite payments made by the PDA.
Agitation against anti-mega housing projects seems to have spread to the hinterland village of Curtorim in Salcete. Opposition is brewing against a housing project mooted by a Margao-based building in the village, with local citizens mobilizing the people to scrap the project. In fact, a signature campaign is on in the village since the last few days, with locals saying the mega housing project would affect the infrastructure in a big way.
Of the 5000 applications received by the Agriculture Department from farmers claiming loss of crops due to unseasonal rains in March, 2200 applications have been verified and loss has been estimated to be Rs 2.75 crore. The verification of the remaining applications is scheduled to be completed by May, told S S P Tendulkar, Director of Agriculture to Herald. Unseasonal rains in the months of February and March greatly affected horticulture crops and to some extent paddy.
There are so many misconceptions about snakes that any of the snake species spotted in residential areas cannot escape without harm from man. For many people immensely fear snakes. But, at least, in Goa, people seem to be shaking off their preconceived notions. They call snake rescuers rather than kill the reptiles. The Wildlife Division of the Forest Department last year succeeded in trapping and saving 1020 snakes across the State.
Finance Minister Dayanand Narvekar said that the Government is committed to provide better health facilities in every nook and corner of the State. To achieve this goal the Government has initiated many steps. The Government's sincere efforts to control the malaria have proved fruitful to bring down the Malaria cases in the State.
The tug of war between the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) and the Corporation of the City of Panjim (CCP) over "who will cap the Curca garbage dump?' may have ended but the work of capping the dump is yet to start though the monsoon is not far away. The work had to be completed before the monsoons to ensure that polluted water does not reach Curca village. The CCP which has been directed by the High Court, last week, to cover the garbage dump with tarpaulim before the monsoon of 2008, has not been able to start the work for want of funds.
The health officials, investigating contamination of seven wells in Taleigao today indicated that it may be due to mixture of ammonia in ground water. Though the final laboratory report on the water samples of five wells, is expected on Friday, sources in the department indicated that it may be due to mixture of ammonia. Samples of two others were not taken as they are in close proximity with the four. Last week seven wells in Chincholem and four in Borbhat, from Taleigao were reported to be contaminated with dead fish floating over the whitish colour water giving a foul smell.
