Seven years ago, they rose in unison and succeeded in twisting the State government's arm into giving up its plan to locate the campus of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Goa there. Now, many of them are in the forefront of laying a red carpet for a proposed 'film city' in exactly the same and on an approximately same amount of land -- the Bhagwati Moll plateau at Loliem.
None of the issues raised at the time of opposition to the IIT campus there have been resolved either. The temple to the local Betal deity continues to stand there, water that the plateau helps stabilize as a natural aquifer will still be a problem and the 'no development zone' land-use demarcation still exists backed by the Kasturirangan committee report.
The deafening silence of the locals and environmental activists who opposed the IIT campus there over the current proposal of a film city at exactly the same site is therefore baffling.
It's not for nothing that India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru described Goans as 'ajeeb'.
Return of the marina
The re-germination of the marina project at the serene Nauxim village has surprised many and quite rightly triggered a state of unrest in the fishing village, predominantly inhabited by the Scheduled Tribe community.
Many on the ground, including the environmental and political activists who had opposed the project unitedly in the past are split in diverse political formations forcing some of them to display a facade of unity.
If talk on the ground at Nauxim is to be believed, the revival of the project and what prompted the promoters Kargwal Constructions Pvt Ltd to secure the 'clearance' from the MoEF&CC, or rather its ruling that EC under the EIA law is not required, is a 'deal' struck at a paradoxical meeting of a controversial Goa politician with Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde days after the latter pulled off the coup to dislodge his former boss Uddhav Thackeray.
Await more details in this very column in the near future, once tangible evidence lands on our desks.
The show must indeed go on
Remember Francisco Monte Cruz? Yes the man who was instrumental back in the mid-1980s to miraculously pull off the feat of constructing in less than six months the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 37th National Games on Thursday.
Extremely difficult to remember him right? Especially in Goa, where politicos are worshiped when in power and unceremoniously ignored when defeated and relegated to the sidelines.
A similar fate has befallen former Deputy Chief Minister Manohar (Babu) Ajgaonkar who finds himself no longer in the vortex of Goa's political power play.
Yet for Ajgaonkar,'the show must go on' even if he as sports minister was instrumental to ready much of the infrastructure for the National Games and yet did not get an invite to the opening ceremony and an opportunity to say 'namaste' to Modi.
Oh Mapusa! When will your woes end?
With the deterioration of the condition of roads and the angst of the residents of Mapusa over irregularity in the supply of water and garbage collection reaching a crescendo, the local MLA Joshua D’Souza appears to have done the vanishing act.
Talk is that the MLA, who is apparently on a private visit abroad, will not be back until November 15.
Phew, that sounds like ages.
So Mapxekars can howl and scream over their fate but nothing's gonna happen. Life goes on or rather needs to go on.
In the meanwhile, councillors of the ruling group continue with their insipid performance unable to resolve even basic necessities of the constituents and Mapxekars know it.
“They (councillors) could hardly do anything when the MLA was around. What can we expect from them now when he's out?” is the common refrain from the hassled Mapusa residents.
Sulking babu eyes next move
The Chief Officer of Mapusa Municipal Council has been sulking ever since his order to issue partial occupancy certificate to the controversial builder Prabhu Moni was dismissed by the director of municipal administration last month.
A little bird in the corridors of the municipality confided in us that the chief officer is now trying a back door manoeuvre to challenge the DMA’s order.
Since the CO cannot do it himself without the sanction of the government, he is laying his eggs in the council's basket to give him the sanction.
But there's a catch: If the council indeed falls for the trap and decides to pass a resolution giving a go-ahead to the CO to challenge the DMA order, then the councilors could land in for trouble.
We'll have to wait and see if the councilors bite the bait.
