Dreams shattered for
many Goan youth
A plane with 112 Indians who were deported from the United States for illegally residing in that country landed in Amritsar on Saturday night. This is the third such arrival in a span of 10 days as part of the Donald Trump administration crackdown on such immigrants.
It may be recalled that two youths from Goa, who were among the 116 Indians who were deported in the second batch for illegal immigration have since returned home. More Goans are expected to be deported in the days to come.
Several of these immigrants have either sold or mortgaged their properties and homes to raise funds to go to the US to eke out a living and support their families. To add salt to injury, they were deported in a most inhumane manner with handcuffs and foot-chains and in military transport planes just like Prisoners of War (PoWs).
Be that as it may, illegal immigration cannot be condoned. All immigration norms should be respected. The NRI commission can guide people about the formalities that need to be completed to go abroad. It is learnt that many try to enter the US illegally through agents since the immigration formalities are cumbersome and lengthy. Hence youth take the risk by trying to enter America through agents. The agents who are responsible for the youth entering the US illegally need to be brought under the scanner. This will stop illegal immigration not only to the US but to other countries as well.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Time to return
back to nature!
This has reference to the report ‘Handwoven heritage: Laxmi Velip keeps the dying art of mandri mats alive……..’ ( O Heraldo, February 17, 2025).
Great! This news item took me back in time when we used to love lying down on these mats called mandris, even in villages in Mumbai, like Gorai. There was no need to even spread a bed sheet, just lying on the bare mat gave one a great feeling.
It is sad to note that today's modern world is killing all traditions, cultures, heritage. Hats off then, to Laxmi for keeping alive this centuries-old art of weaving mandris.
In the meanwhile, I look back on my younger days when I had weaved small table mats and coasters out of coconut leaves which, I'm happy and proud to say, I still have them with me. Today's generation may never experience the joy of making such things with their own hands. Perhaps, it's time to return to nature. And, thanks to your newspaper for focusing on such news stories.
Melville X D'Souza, Mumbai
Noisy bikers need
to be put in place
With reference to the news in one of the local dailies that the Calangute traffic police have seized a two wheeler with modified exhaust making loud noises, I wish to congratulate them for this long awaited action.
I am a senior citizen living in Porvorim and face untold difficulty in managing to sleep and enjoy the peace and tranquility of the locality. Unscrupulous riders keep zooming around throughout the day and at times late nights with bikes modified to make loud noises.
Numerous appeals from me at different times in different local papers to check this menace have regrettably not yielded any results. Thank you Calangute police once again for your bold start in the right direction!!
Ruben de Oliveira Fernandes, Alto Betim
Smart City more of
a bane than boon
For Panjim, Smart City means clean and good roads, water, electricity and beautification. But this project is a bouquet of hits and misses with the latter taking the lion's share.
The recent water and gas pipeline damage during sewerage work at Bhatlem has made life miserable for residents and commercial establishments. Despite the promise of a perfect lifestyle, Smart City will end up becoming a sci-fi fantasy if the challenges are not resolved at the earliest.
Hopes for a comprehensive development has now been replaced with dissatisfaction. Projects have become bane for the people with deadlines not being met. People are comparing this situation to that of 'Stitching a blazer to cover a bare body, when a simple pant and shirt to protect the person's dignity would do.'
K G Vilop, Chorao
Acute shortage of
parking space
Maharashtra is facing a mounting problem of vehicular congestion in its cities especially Mumbai which causes traffic jams and blocking of vehicles which provide emergency services like ambulances and fire brigades.
One of the factors contributing to the problem is found to be the parking of private vehicles on the roads. The Maharashtra government is now mulling a policy of asking the people to show they have a parking space before registration of new vehicles.
The situation in Goa may not be identical or as grave as it is in Mumbai but we do have a major parking problem in our cities. Our cities are small in size and they lack sufficient parking places due to which we see unregulated and haphazard parking.
The authorities have taken some measures to ease the situation but these are not enough. There is acute shortage of parking space due to the growing number of new vehicles on the roads. Gone are those days when only the affluent households possessed a car.
The population of vehicles in Goa will continue to grow fast requiring more parking space. The Government and civic authorities should therefore draw up a long term plan and address the parking problem in the cities before the situation goes out of hand.
Rodney de Souza, Assagao
Move to save farm
land is just excellent
After banning sale of agricultural land, the Goa government has now proposed to ban the conversion of all fields designated as 'rice', 'morad', 'kher' and 'khazan'. Well, this has been stated by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant during the launch of the government's ambitious 'State Amritkal Agriculture Policy 2025 recently.
Speaking further, the CM said that even if the Town and Country Planning Department does approve conversion of agricultural fields, the NOC from the agricultural director would now be mandatory, adding that no NOC would be granted for any such conversions in future.
I wholeheartedly support this proposal of the government because many Goans of late are seen practically filling their ancestral agricultural fields in rubble using JCBs, converting them into private properties overnight by first planting a few trees to bluff people around and slowly selling them to developers and scrapyard owners.
The government should bring in the above proposal at the earliest to permanently stop this madness of converting uncultivated ancestral agricultural fields under some pretext or the other and slowly selling them for the sake of making a quick buck.
Jerry Fernandes, Saligao