New fuel pipeline should be corrosion-resistant
It is learnt that a fortnight after wells were found contaminated with petroleum products at Matvem-Dabolim, the location where the fuel was leaking from the main fuel pipeline has been identified. It is understood that the pipeline was found to be corroded, which according to preliminary investigation, was the cause for the leakage. It must be said that the corrosion may not be localised and there could be more spots in the pipeline, which have corroded and could cause leakage in future. Periodic maintenance of the pipeline is essential to prevent reoccurrence of such incidents, which causes panic among the locals and can also have disastrous consequences. Mormugao and Vasco could be sitting on a ticking time-bomb. Past fire incidents in the locality due to leakage of petroleum products should serve as an eye-opener. People’s lives are important and should not be put at risk. A comprehensive audit by a central agency under supervision of the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) seems necessary. Based on the findings, if need be, the entire pipeline should be replaced taking into account the shelf-life of the pipe that has been used and the fact that it could be subjected to corrosive material underground. The new pipeline needs to be corrosion-resistant. The State government needs to take proactive steps to prevent occurrence of such incidents.
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Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Don’t sell your houses to outsiders
Through the columns of your esteemed daily newspaper I want to request the Goans who are working in the UK and other parts of the world not to sell their old houses to outsiders. It is very painful to see some of these majestic houses having magnificent architectural glory of the Portuguese era are being sold to outsiders by our Goans sons and daughters along with land having numerous fruit bearing trees. Our forefathers had planted these trees so that their offspring would enjoy them. But alas now these are being enjoyed by others. The outsiders are on a buying spree in Goa as it is very easy and cheap to buy properties in Goa as they are having money. Soon we will have all outsiders here and our Goans will be at their mercy.
My humble request to all those working abroad is do not sell your houses and land to outsiders, who are tempting us by giving double, triple and even four times the actual rates. Please don’t fall prey to this. At the moment no country is safe and God forbid if anything happens then it will be a disaster for Goans. The African and Kuwait lessons are fresh in our minds.
Jerry Fernandes, Vanxim
Lokotsav 2023: A super-hit!
In 22 years, Lokotsav has become a festive brand for all societies of life in Canacona and in Goa that we anxiously wait to celebrate annually. The 23rd one has moved to another level of extravaganza, showcasing the incredible and diverse culture of tribal civilisation through various activities such as indigenous sports festival, various arts, bamboo crossing, commando bridge, river crossing by rope, archery, authentic local ancient cuisine, display of agricultural produce, handicrafts and herbal medicines. Please note that Lokotsav is now linked with the “Vision Canacona 2030”, a brainchild of our Goa assembly Speaker Ramesh bab Tawadkar, who started hosting the festival in his capacity as the head of Adarsh Yuvak Sangh. This year, Lokotsav 2023 audience was welcomed by colourful folklore artistes from six States including the local dhol and tasha troupe entertaining the guests in bright orange attire. The amazing fact is, the entire show was stolen away by the talented students of Shree Balram Education Society, beautifully dressed in tribal costumes, sang the welcome song which was so well written and composed that the honoured guests – CM Pramod Sawant and the VIP dignitaries were totally moved as they enjoyed with glory and tears of joy. All credit must go to the founder Ramesh Tawadkar and the Principal Savita Tawadkar for putting in such a mind-blowing performance welcoming each and everyone to Lokotsav 2023 at Amone-Poinguinim, Canacona.
Tawadkar is looking for a success of Lokotsav year by year, making sure that the concept of developing, counselling and motivating the youth in getting them trained on various skills and trades will ensure that all are employed in the near future.
Gaston Dias, Sarzora
Waste of taxpayers’ money
It is understood that the Goa government will spend a princely sum of Rs 2 crore for inaugurating the second phase of the Zuari Bridge at the hands of Nitin Gadkari. A similar amount was spent during the launch of the first phase. Many projects of little consequence in the country are inaugurated and re-inaugurated an umpteen number of times for political gains by our netas; of course the money comes from the pockets of honest taxpayers, not from the leaders themselves. It is pertinent to note that our CM had inaugurated of all things a traffic signal at Nuvem two years back; apparently the 30-minute ceremony entailed an expenditure of Rs 20 lakh. Sawant is following in the footsteps of his mentor, Vishwaguru who flags off every Vande Bharat train in the country amongst a million other things.
The State is already reeling under a fiscal liability of Rs 35,000 crore, i.e, every Goan has a debt of Rs 2,18,000 on his / her head; instead of adopting austerity measures, the government is getting more profligate with public funds. In the same vein @ Rs 300 crore is sought to be spent by the State government for celebrating the 60th Liberation Day; imagine the number of schools, hospitals, anganwadis, roads, drains, public transport infrastructure, etc, that could have been built or renovated with this amount. Time to liberate ourselves from this extravagant sarkar comes 2024.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
