THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2024
Frequent digging of roads a nuisance
Panjim Roads are successfully compared to a circus. Poor condition of the roads in the city is worrying the road users in Panjim. But after completion of the works, the roads were not re-laid causing inconvenience to the road users. Commuters and passers-by are suffering every day due to the unplanned digging and renovation work of roads. The digging of the road for work at Dhanalakshmi Nagar, damaging water pipeline and flooding in to low lying house is nothing but a sheer negligence apart by causing residents to suffer further with no water supply.
This is common and routine. After the work is done, the roads are given a patchy touch-up with no proper asphalting work. Nobody knows when and how the road digging will end as utility providers don’t pay attention to public sufferings, many affected people alleged. If an agency starts digging a road, immediately another one fills it to be dug by another, which leaves the road uncomfortable.
The condition of roads is deplorable with countless potholes making the purpose of the road, a failure. Most of the public concerns stem from roads being re-dug often. The digging of roads has become a common feature in Panjim. Disgraceful government leaving people in extreme danger driving on the roads and suffering for one or other. Fix the nasty roads.
K G Vilop, Chorao
Sledging, Ajinkya and gentleman’s game
Cricket is just not about the three fundamentals of batting, bowling and fielding, but a game where respectful behaviour of a player is equally important, and which is why it is called a ‘gentleman’s game’. No wonder Indian cricketer Ajinkya Rahane has set a fine example of this aspect when he asked his teammate Yashasvi Jaiswal to leave the field for sledging South Zone batter Ravi Teja in the recent Duleep Trophy finals. Therein lies a lesson for the young Jaiswal that will come in handy through the length of his career: play the game hard, have the aggression, but never cross the proverbial line.
Incidentally, legendary West Indian batsman Viv Richards was the best example of a player you should never sledge. Glamorgan fast bowler Greg Thomas once sledged Richards after bowling a couple of deliveries which had the Caribbean great playing and missing. Thomas piped up: “It’s red, round and weighs about five ounces, in case you were wondering.”
The insulting remarks by Thomas were enough for Richards to get his competitive veins pumping. When the bowler pitched the next delivery the ball was hit out of the ground into a little river. Richards riposted: “Hey Greg, since you know the colour, shape and size, please go and find it.”
Ranganathan Sivakumar, Chennai
Ajinkya sets an example
West Zone skipper Ajinkya Rahane has beautifully shown that in the gentleman’s game one has to be gentle. By sending one of his junior teammate, Yashasvi Jaiswal, out of the field for some time for bad behaviour on the field, Ajinkya has set an example for cricketers around the globe that the gentleman's game should be played like a gentleman and it is not a game to flex muscles, use verbal volleys and various other tactics to apprehend opposite players like many do on the field.
Jaiswal had scored a double century in the final match of the Duleep trophy against the South Zone. The incident of his captain sending him away from the field is a lesson for the young batter. Youngsters normally get carried away by accolades and praises for their achievement and sadly forget the gentleness of the game.
Let us hope it does not happen to this hard working youngster and he is sure to taste more success if he keeps his head on his shoulder.
M Pradyu, Kannur
We all need to rescue Goa
It may be too late to now salvage whatever remains of Goa, but we should not give up the battle. We need to do everything we can, as in life nothing is more important than our motherland. It is a priceless treasure worth fighting for regardless of the price and sacrifices that may have to be painfully endured.
Over the years we have entrusted in good faith the reigns of Goa in the hands of some deceitful political monsters who have today taken our beautiful State to the brink of economic, political and environmental disaster.
We need to create awareness amongst our brethren across the globe of the jeopardy our Goa finds itself sadly enveloped in. Our forefathers must have never foreseen that this would be the pathetic state of affairs in our once pristine Pearl of the East.
We can all now play a role in trying to at least halt the further destruction and devastation of Goa. Let us not shirk and shy away from this bounden responsibility that we owe to our land. Let us act with a firm resolve and relentlessly strive to do our little bit and carry no guilt. An opportunity that may not return but will only come to haunt us for being mere spectators seeing the remains of our motherland being laid to rest.
Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
Kannada Bhavan in Goa?
It is learnt that the Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraja Bommai has requested his Goa counterpart to provide a minimum of one or two acres of government land for construction of Kannada Bhavan in the coastal State. It may be recalled that the Karnataka chief minister's statement of setting aside Rs 10 crore budget to build a Kannada Bhavan in Goa State had run into rough water since a certain political party in Goa had raised objection stating the move would dilute Goan identity.
It is pertinent to note that Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy’s long-pending demand for an administrative building, ‘Konkani Bhavan’ at Mangaluru, will be realised soon, with the laying of the foundation for the building. Though the academy was set up in 1994, it did not have a building of its own and was operating from a rented office.
Konkani is one among 22 scheduled languages included in the 8th schedule of the Indian Constitution. It is also pertinent to note that Konkani is the spoken language in Mangaluru, though the dialect is different. Goa is a small State and hosts many States' residents here.
If all other States' residents raise such demands then it may infringe Goa's identity and its interest. In Goa there is also scarcity of land since the State is almost the size of a district in Karnataka. All aspects need to be taken into consideration before any decision is arrived at with regards to providing government land for a Kannada Bhavan to be built.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Cristiano crestfallen; end of an era?
Cristiano Ronaldo is an icon and embodies the sacrifices and hard work he has put in, in becoming one of the greatest if not the greatest footballer of all time.
People all over the world follow this superstar and I think he has and will always have a special place in most Goan hearts, and for most people of Goan Heritage who are resident in Portugal, UK or Europe and even worldwide.
I am proud to say that I am a big fan of his and I hope he picks himself up more mentally than physically and continues his onward journey to even greater heights because I believe he has it in him to break many more records and be the GOAT (Greatest of All Time).
He has had some setbacks at the beginning of this season and may have lost his confidence in front of the goal but I am sure he has set a goal for himself to pick himself up and carry on to greater heights.
All the best and Viva CR7!
Octavio Goes, London
