Leading mining companies continue to illegally encroach on forest land. They have also been accused of cutting down as many as 119628 trees for mining purposes.

It is the rapacious greed of the Transport Minister Sudin Dhavlikar and RTO officials which drove the General Secretary of the All Goa Private Bus Owners Association to blow the whistle on the mega kickbacks scam in the department.

The mining giant, Sesa is in a soup. It is alleged that the mining firm had sought to bribe the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) officials with expensive gifts. These officials were on a three-day visit to the state to attend a public hearing that took place on June 22 following strong opposition by the local residents to the decision of the mining firm to re-commence its operations at Pirna-Nadora in Bardez.

THE AREA under production is declining every year in Goa even as the food prices shoot up every day. The total cultivated area has reduced from 1,72,108 ha in 2006-07 to 1,65,953 ha in 2008-09. The mango crop crashed from 19,280 tonnes in 2006-07 to a mere 7,558 tonnes which is a drop of around 61% in 2008-09. Pineapple, which is an intercrop, has crashed from 5,544 tonnes in 2007-08 to 4,335 tonnes - a drop of almost 22% in 2008-09.

The exploits of tainted police personnel have far outnumbered that of the ‘good souls’ who still exist in the Goa police department with their notoriety crossing all bounds, including that of murder and rape with the victims still awaiting justice in their favour. The recent arrest of the over half-a-dozen cops, including the then Anti Narcotics Cell (ANC) PI Ashish Shirodkar and his colleagues, for their alleged involvement in the infamous police-drug dealers nexus has only added to the miseries of the department that ironically has as its motto - “Help Us to Help You.” Porvorim PI Devendra Gad was also recently accused of molesting a woman social activist whilst she was protesting against the state government at the Secretariat, Porvorim on Monday, May 17, 2010.

Even though Porvorim has been reeling under poor water supply for years, the government continues to grant permission to new construction projects, putting further stress on the region’s overburdened infrastructure.

There are nine wards in Hospicio, with a total of 264 beds. The wards are generally spacious and well-maintained. A public hospital must be designed to facilitate easy navigation around the premises. The signboards must be written clearly and in languages commonly understood by the people. Such small details reduce the mental pressure of people who are already going through a bad time.

BOWING TO the demands for immediate action by the authorities regarding illegal hill-cutting and land filling activities in the state, the government constituted a flying squad to act in such matters in both districts. But this is a ‘mere eye-wash to fool the public’ claims Margao-based NGO Green Goa Foundation (GGF) chairman Raison Almeida, who has incidentally pointed out to one such instance of illegal hill-cutting taking place at Pajifond-Margao, not too far from the office of the South Goa Collector, G P Naik.

PANAJI CITY is covered by two sewage treatment plants (STP) at Tonca and Patto Plaza. Spread over 1,77,000 sq m, the Patto Plaza area was developed by the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) over 20 years ago. At the time of its development, it was hailed as progressive. It was the only green field project one had heard of, whose development included the construction of an independent sewage treatment plant. The EDC was criticised for this display of ‘far-sightedness.’ This infrastructure, however, has been crumbling for some time now.

ON MARCH 8, 2010, the All Goa Private Bus Owners Association wrote to the Transport Department of the government of Goa demanding an increase in bus fares from the earlier 45 paise to the proposed 65 paise per kilometer beyond the first three kilometres, a pair of free tyres per bus every year, subsidised diesel and also demanded that the government declare them as an ‘industry’. They claim that the reason for this latest demand in increasing fares is to make up for the recent increase in diesel prices.