Carmona waits for justice
It’s almost seven months since Raheja Universal had been awarded the construction license by our panchayat for their beleaguered project in Carmona. Although construction activity has not commenced due to the public outrage and resentment, ground clearing and leveling has been found to be partly carried out. What remains to be seen if Raheja has the devilry to go ahead with their project with police protection against the public opinion and risk more protests and agitations or simply succumb to the will of the people of Carmona to forfeit their project. Politicians will try to avoid this issue as the election bugle will soon sound, forcing them to take sides with the people or with Raheja. It is in the larger interests of Raheja to gift their land to our village Carmona as the people have taken a profound oath to guard and protect their village at all costs. The adamant statement of the Deputy CM in public and in the Assembly in contrast to his assurances given to us have forced the villagers to take sides in the political arena when the village is already besieged by a panchayat which is presently looked upon with scorn and deceit.
Allwyn Jorge, Carmona
Wifi safety
In today’s world Wi-Fi has become more of a necessity than a luxury specially, for the tourists who visit the state. This helps the tourists to keep in touch with their friends, their loved ones and family members back home. Wi-Fi has become an important tool to make one enjoy the vacation. It is also essential for those who combine work with their vacation. Keeping this in mind the Goa government has decided to make Wi-Fi facility available at the beaches and in the coastal areas in the state as part of its Swadesh Darshan scheme. Hotels and guest houses in the coastal areas too provide this facility to their guests. And now it is understood that even shacks in the state have made Wi-Fi facility available for their customer. This will obviously boost business in the coastal areas. While the Wi-Fi facility is essential for a tourist destination like Goa, this facility can also be misused by anti-social elements. More over if the internet connectivity is so widely available, asking the cyber cafes to keep a log of those using the internet while at the same time asking for the users’ identification in order to keep a tag on those who may misuse the facility, like a possible terrorist, may appear to serve no purpose. The question to be asked is whether it is possible to keep a watch on the internet users in order to prevent its misuse when Wi-Fi connectivity is so freely available specially along the coastal belt.
Public ire
The papers are full of stories of protests and where the public are not coming out in force to stop what they think are illegal activities. There was an incident in Navelim where villagers stopped some digging work, then we have protestors in Balli threatening to shut down the roads, while Dangars are fighting to be recognised. What is happening to our beloved Goa? Right now, the politicians and their parties are doing what they want blatantly. Commercial interests are running the State. Good governance is a thing of the past or was it a dream entirely?
Amey Kurtakar, Margao
