Letters to the editor (17 August 2021)

Worst fears have come true
Our worst fears have come true with the dreaded Taliban overrunning Kabul and Afghan President Ghani fleeing the country. The development signals the end of a 20-year Western experiment aimed at remaking Afghanistan. Insurgents announced they would soon declare an ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’, which could see the horror of the re-imposition of a brutal rule that all but eliminated women’s rights. India, which has yet to shut down its embassy in Kabul, would do well to evacuate its diplomatic personnel on a war footing.
N J Ravi Chander, Bengaluru
Free potable water
It is heartening to note that the Chief Minister has assured 16000 litres of potable water to each household free of cost from September. However one just hopes that assured potable water supply through pipes does not remain a pipe dream!
We live in a housing society at Caranzalem consisting of more than 200 flats. We are required to buy 15 to 20 tankers everyday, incurring huge expenses and running the risk of getting contaminated water.  At present PWD connection is only for the names sake as we do not get even 5-10% of total water requirement. Our efforts to get water supply augmented during the past years have not yielded any worthwhile results. It was also observed in the past that though no water would flow through the pipes; yet a bill for minimum charges would be raised by them.
One hopes that this time the Govt keeps its promise and  makes arrangements for providing sufficiently larger diameter pipelines with a foolproof system to housing societies to enable them to get promised 16000 X litres of water where “X” is the number of Units/households in a housing society. In fact we pray that the Govt considers this letter as SOS and provide urgent relief to the Housing Societies like ours.
We are sure Govt has a capacity to fulfill its promises and with a firm will; there is no reason that it can not do so.
Rajendra Motwani, Caranzalem
When illegal is right
23% of Goa’s MLAs have criminal cases against them. If this is so, considering they have full authority to legislate, how does one guarantee they will uphold the principles of natural justice and jurisprudence? What stops them from acting against the very laws of the land? The HC of Delhi, had, ages ago, evicted all the polluting steel rolling mills from Delhi. The very next day, all these mills were welcomed to Goa: why?
These mills were power guzzlers, depriving other industries of power, their workers literally lived inside the factories many of whom died in explosions because safety was compromised-and condoned by the legislators- and they generated harmonics in the power lines downstream that not only damaged electronic items but increased losses. Cases filed by the then Opposition Party were later withdrawn once the MLA crossed over. Any wonder at the  Bhumiputra Bill surfacing in Goa? A criminally bent mind will understand only such kinds of matters.
Now, the Public is required to say why they do not want the same? What could the Public do with ‘the Coconut tree is a grass’ law? Nothing. Do we wish to be always cornered into such positions? Better we say no to such MLA’s. Cleansing must start at some point, with no compromise on winnability.
R Fernandes, Margao
Empowering our Bhumiputris
Facilitating enhancement of the living standards of rural women, the government has launched an online portal that would provide a platform for self help groups to reach out to a larger customer base for their products; also outlets at prominent public places affording maximum visibility would be provided to the women for offline hawking of their wares.
The website www.goabazaar.org would make the products available to international buyers too, for women the world would now be their oyster. Buyers can access traditional products like home made Goan food items, handicrafts, decor solutions , fabrics, genuine organic farm produce, embroidered table cloths , toys, chitari paintings , wooden artifacts etc. at reasonable prices. This would in turn add value to the rural economy and extend the opportunity for financial independence / inclusion to thousands of women by way of credit linkages and collateral free soft loans.
Initially 200 products from 157 SHGs would be showcased , more SKUs (stock keeping units ) would be added later once the scheme picks up steam. This rural livelihood initiative would lead to actual empowerment of our Bhumiputris, a laudable effort indeed.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
Shun all political parties
Herald’s call to Goans to select a suitable candidate rather than those thrust on them by greedy political parties is a welcome initiative. I believe that every constituency should field an honest upright citizen. Shun all political parties. We’ ve had enough of defecting at all levels. We know what their game plan is once they are elected.
Goans, give up this culture of being slaves to any leader. They have used you and put Goan and Goans on a roller coaster ride to doom.  Beware of their claims and promises. They have shown their true colours – wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Communalism, violence, environmental destruction, deteriorating law and order, have robbed Goans of the peace and beauty of their homeland.
Put Goa before self. Think of the Goa you will leave behind for your children!
Good governance is the need of the hour and we know who all can never provide that. What Goa needs is a strong regional party of honest upright leaders.
Goa could be a model to all states in India to end this political malaise that will eventually destroy the secular fabric and beauty of India.
Jai Goa! Jai Hind!
Alan Rodrigues, Carmona
It’s party time!
Early next year Goa would be going to the polls and groundwork and fireworks have commenced in the political parties. Some of the false bravado talks, pretentious promises and sly statements that we hear and read are Quixotic and border on the ridiculousness.
In the coming days verbal assaults on our senses and dangling of carrots to the voters would increase. Several aspirants are ready to throw their hat in the political labyrinth. Some have newly joined the fray and some are abandoning their old ships and jumping on to another in the hope of winning.
In most cases they may rock the boat in which they plan to sail. Once floor-crossings are made, deals struck and the dust settles then we would know the real contenders and their party affiliations. Until then it would be a game of ‘hop, skip and jump,’ by the potential candidates. But for the people it would be ‘hope, slip and dump.’
Hope we get good candidates, slip from the boring meetings and dump the gate crashers. Let the party begin! Hic, hic, hurray!
Sridhar D’Iyer, Caranzalem