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  Good? Bad? Ugly?


Good? Bad? Ugly?

TOO BROAD ROADS, GARBAGE DUMPS? NO THANKS, SAYS PARRA VILLAGE


March 2009: It may be interesting and instructive to study the way in which Parra village in Bardez has drawn up its Regional Plan 2021. While most other villages have rejected the copy of the Draft RP2021 of their village
sent to them by the Block Development Office (BDO) because of obvious errors, Parra decided to use the
opportunity given to it by the government for conducting its own exercise instead.

Recently, Parra's 20-member Village Level Committee on Regional Plan 2021 completed its work on the plan. The new Land Use and Development Plan drawn up by it is now put up for display at the Panchayat Ghor (village council office) and other public places for final corrections from the public.

Also accompanying the Land Use Map is a copy of the regulations that are to be read together with the plan and which have been drawn up by the committee after discussions.


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Master Gazette Notifications

DOWNLOAD the Master Gazette Notifications here: MASTER GAZETTE NOTIFICATIONS


GBA releases Mini Guide to Draft RP 2021


DOWNLOAD the MINI GUIDE RP-2021
RELATED DOCUMENTS MASTER GAZETTE


Indian Climate Solutions Road Tour: Begins from 03 January, 2009 (Thursday, Jan 22 - Friday, Jan 23: GOA)

“A group of friends from the Indian Youth Climate Network and a solar powered band are travelling more than 3500 kilometers”

New Delhi, 3rd Dec. 2008: A group of dynamic individuals from across India and around the world are launching on a journey of a lifetime across the country to highlight India’s local eco-solutions, and empower youth on one of the greatest challenges of our time: global climate change.

Equipped with three solar plug-in electric Reva vehicles, a solar bus, a solar powered music band called Solar Punch, and a group of dancers from Shiamak Davar’s Victory Arts Foundation, these inspired youth are powered by a passion for their future, and the belief that “a set of determined spirits with an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history” as Mahatma Gandhi said.


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We no longer live in a democracy

by Venita Coelho
27 October 2008

We no longer live in a democracy. This is the sad truth I have been forced to look in the eye.

The Moira Gram Sabha was held this morning. At the previous Gram Sabha, I and two other members had not been allowed to speak because we were not on the electoral. Not only that, rowdies had taken over the Sabha and shouted down anyone who tried to speak up. The Moira Action Committee was quite sure it would happen again, so yesterday itself we sent an application to the police for police protection in case the rowdies struck. And I had made sure to go and get myself on the electoral rolls since I had every intention of exercising my basic right to speak up.

Well - the police were there. And this is what happened.


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Why they put four women in the jug

by Hartman de Souza

October 12, 2008: Yesterday afternoon at around three in the afternoon, in Maina, Quepem, forty-six year old Cheryl D'Souza, her nine-year old daughter Aki, her mother Dora, aged eighty-four, and two women from their household, Rita and Shashikala, were manhandled by the police (after they had been attacked by goons from the mining company) and put in a cell at Quepem police station.

Before one reads political ambitions in Cheryl's actions, her own take is that it was a last ditch resort, a necessary bit of theatre to focus attention on the ironies of this whole scam they call 'mining' in Goa.


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Horrors of amendment 16&16A

Click on DOWNLOAD below to read 'Horrors of amendment 16&16A' and learn what the implications of the Act are.
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GBA campaigns for a revival of agriculture



photocredit: Reboni Click on photo to enlarge


Proposed township in Carmona, Salcete

Location and Heritage

The village of Carmona is located on the southern coast of Goa that stretches from Colva to Mobor, and is hemmed in by the villages of Varca and Orlim on one side and Cavelossim on the other. Carmona has about 1,200 homes spread over its settlement zone. AS much as 55 per cent of the land in Carmona is agricultural and the rest is horticultural/orchard/residential land. Its settled population is 5,000. Carmona has its own church, which celebrated its 400th year in 2007, a temple for Hindus and few chapels.

Carmona, reckoned to be a 700-year-old settlement, is ranked among the 20-odd Heritage Villages by the Goa Heritage Action Group (GHAG). Unlike some others in this 'privileged club', Carmona does not boast of numerous unique, elite houses. It has a few old homes of the zonnkars which complement its old agricultural traditions, and have acquired the heritage status. But Carmona's strength is its neat landscaping, bunding, old water channels, thickly-wooded tracts ¬all manifestations of the heritage if one applies the term in its entirety.

A large number of families have been living for generations in Carmona, sustaining themselves on agricultural and allied activities. In the last decade or so, an appreciable number of youngsters have found employment in West Asia or well-paying placements with the international shipping companies. Carmona has remained relatively untouched by the tourism, even as it is located on the South Goan tourist belt, comprising Betalbatim-Colva-Benaulim-Cavelossim.


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Beauty & The Beast?

photocredit: Rajan Parrikar

A sign of the times. The crude 21st century!


GOA:Sweet Land of Mine

by Miguel Braganza
A brief note on the book "GOA: Sweet land of MINE." by Dr.Claude Alvares and Reboni Saha with contributions from many. The vividly illustrated and captioned book is available at the Other India Bookshop at Mapusa for just Rs.250/-

The book entitled simply "GOA:Sweet Land of Mine" compiled by Dr.Claude Alvares and Reboni Saha with inputs from Rajendra Kerkar [Swami Vivekananda Green Brigade],Nirmal Kulkarni[ Green Cross, Wildernest], Sandeep Azrencar [Nisarga Nature Club], Amrut Singh [Animal Resque Squad], Abhijit Prabhudesai [Goa Wildlife Group], Rahul Alvares, Ramesh Gauns [CICH, anti-mining activist] is creating waves in Goa.

The opening page has a telling comment by Joseph Wood Krutch:
WHEN WE DESTROY SOMETHING MAN-MADE AND REPLACEABLE, WE ARE CALLED VANDALS. WHEN WE DESTROY SOMETHING IRREPLACEABLE AND MADE BY GOD, WE ARE CALLED DEVELOPERS."

If Shelley said "A THING OF BEAUTY IS A JOY FOREVER", his views are not shared by those who have mining concessions in Goa. What the Mine-owners and operators think is written on page 27 "mine, Mine, MINE! Goa's latest story of greed"


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Goa: Blood on its mountains

Armstrong Vaz, 21 March 2008, Friday

YES, GOA has blood on its mountains, of forest being denuded and water resources drying up through mining activity. The misery the mining industry has invariably dumped on the Goans over the last few decades. A different Goa, from the one projected by the tourism department to the outside world.

Mining has been the second most revenue generating industry for the state after Tourism. But at what cost?

Villagers staying at the foothills and mountains have been suffering for decades the ill effects of blatant rape of the hills by the mining giants. And the rape of the environment continues.

Environmental activists like Goa Foundation founder Claude Alvares were banking on hope that the Supreme Court will stop iron ore extraction in the state. The hope faded away with the highest court of the land clearing the decks for resumption of mining in January this year, with a rider that it should be environmentally friendly.


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Moral Externalities of Coastal Tourism

by Nandkumar Kamat
March17, 2008

There is no danger to Goa's morally, socially and legally subsidised tourism as long as the international community (EU members, USA and the Anti-Narcotics arm of the UN) brings pressure on the Indian government to cleanse Goa's tourism sector. Perhaps the British Parliament would be as sensitive to the drugs and crime scene in Goa as it has been to the condition of the last few surviving Indian tigers.


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A lesson for Goans in fate of Asbury Park beach

by Karin Larsen
Karin Larsen was an American student on a Fulbright scholarship to study and make a documentary film on Goan identity and culture and posted this article in Jan 1997

New Jersey, like Goa, is a small coastal state in the United States whose beaches attract tourists from all parts of the country and from around the world. All arrive with preconceived notions of a particular beach scene, created mostly by tourist brochures and returning vacationers.

I grew up amidst this beach scene, watching as every five to ten years a new beach becomes trendy and everyone – locals and tourists alike – rushes to make the most out of this new trend.


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Goa: How the battle was won

By Rifat Mumtaz and Madhumanti Sardar
(Rifat Mumtaz and Madhumanti Sardar work with NCAS and are involved in campaigns against SEZs).

Recently, Goa became the only state in India to openly declare that no more Special Economic Zones (SEZs) would be set up on its territory. This was a result of relentless pressure from almost the entire state — villagers, educated middle class, professionals, activists, the church and media.

Think of Goa , and beaches, pristine forests, churches and hordes of tourists spring to mind. But in the last few weeks the state has grabbed the headlines for different reasons. Despite 22 industrial estates, Goa has successfully refused to host Special Economic Zones (SEZs).


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Locational Policy for Public Projects

by Nandkumar Kamat
February 22, 2008
The low-lying khazan lands with saline and corrosive soils, especially those that have been reclaimed from the mangrove swamps and that are projected to be submerged on account
of sea-level rise can never be thought of as suitable places for grand projects like stadiums and sports city. Although expensive engineering and technological solutions are possible
to overcome such concerns, the heavy expenditure coupled with time and cost overruns in such grandiose projects, which do not incorporate maintenance costs in designs, make these
prohibitive.


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Mining Resumes in Goa Despite Opposition From Environmentalists

By Steve Herman (Voice of America)
Goa, India
07 February 2008: Mining, along with tourism, forms the economic backbone of India's seaside state of Goa. Environmental concerns recently halted much of the iron ore extraction, but the way has been now cleared for resumption of mining, in a way that is supposed to be environmentally friendly. VOA's Steve Herman reports from Goa.

A meeting of tribal communities is taking place on the grounds of a church in the ramshackle Goan fishing village of Betul. Catholic priests have raised the alarm about a huge bauxite mine and other development projects planned for the area. Rajendra Kerkar, a local fisherman, needs no convincing. Kerkar says he fears the worst if authorities allow a million tons of bauxite to be mined annually near his house. The jobs will go to outsiders, he says, and illegal mining has already contaminated the groundwater, causing kidney failure among villagers. Dust is blanketing the area and blasting is shaking their homes.


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Dr Oscar Rebello nominated for CNN-IBN award

PANJIM (HR)– Convenor of Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA) Dr Oscar Rebello has
been nominated for CNN-IBN's Indian of the Year Award 2007 in public
service category.

The other nominees in the public service category are: Public Service
Dr Sharan Patil, Anand Kumar and Abhayanand, Sushma Iyengar, E
Sreedharan and Kousalya. Sports, politics, entertainment, NRI are the
other categories.

To participate in online voting log on to
http://www.cnnibnindianoftheyear.com/ , the official website for the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year award. Readers can also log on to
www.ibnlive.com to participate in the voting. Alternately, you can participate in mobile voting by SMSing IOTY IPUB F to 52622.


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Rubble mound wall at Campal lacks scientific validity

by Dr. Antonio Mascarenhas
photo credits: Dr. Antonio Mascarenhas

November 29, 2007: A rubble mound wall is being built along the river bank at Campal. The site constitutes a Tongue of Sand, with ample vegetation on it. The justification for this massive structure is not communicated to the public. Nevertheless, the accompanying pictures expose the fate of the body of sand, the geomorphic feature that adds aesthetics to Panjim city and the river bank that accommodates the children's park.

This is a case where medicine is being prescribed where there is no disease. The presumption that the sand body


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What China is doing to Goa

May 03, 2007
By Sunita Narain

I wrote last fortnight about how mining in Goa for iron ore was ripping its forests and devastating its people. I wrote of the violence and protests I saw in its villages, where miners were pitted against people angry at the loss of their cultivable lands and their water bodies. I had asked then: what are we doing? I ask this again.

The fact is that Chinese demand for iron ore has increased its price from US $14 per tonne to US $60. This has spurred a black gold rush-mining companies are bidding for areas that were either closed or not opened because they were unprofitable or unviable. In many cases, these mines had not been worked because they were close to villages and companies knew that people would probably protest. Now none of this
matters. The industry says this is boom time-the Chinese are willing to buy low-grade ore, which Goa has aplenty. The Chinese want this ore, as they will blend it with better quality ore. And their appetite is massive.


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Can Goa learn from Ralegaon?

Anna Hazare: A fearless crusader By Reeta Sharma

I had read Anna Hazare's name in the newspapers. There were amazing reports about him. From his photo he had appeared to be an unassuming villager. But his news-worthiness was immense. This frail-looking man was exposing the nexus of politicians and bureaucrats of Maharashtra without any trace of fear. His exposures were often so factually correct that they could have challenged the best of investigative reporters of the world. The accusations of corrupt practices were always fully substantiated. Soon he was not only the talk of India but also of many countries in the First World. Their media was all out to capture Anna Hazare live on their cameras.


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Who’s protecting them?


On the 23rd of December 2006 GBA witnessed a horrifying sight in Bambolim. A large tract of land full of trees was being razed by bulldozers barely 20 meters from the shoreline while a whole section of a hill had been deeply excavated. The local residents who protested were harassed by the builder’s strongmen and there were live electric cables laid around the property to electrocute unsuspecting villagers. The builder even had the local police in their pockets as is so often the case with the mega rich building lobby. As if to hide their crime the builder had camouflaged the side of the hill being cut in green fabric. Enquiries in the GBA's presence with the Town & Country Planning Department and the Additional Collector failed to produce any valid documentation or licenses to carry out any of the work in progress. The Additional Collector issued a stay on all work that evening and this is how things now stand as of today.


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Paradise, in Contract


March 18, 2007 New York Times
By Somini Sengupta


One afternoon in December, Roy Patrao peered through a sturdy iron gate and scanned the gnarled roots of a tree embracing the ruin of an old stone house. Only a shell of the house survived, with thick columns holding up a portico. A window shutter made of seashells and slatted wood was visible amid the overgrown bush. On this plot of land, Patrao saw his dream.



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Why Goans won and Mumbaikars lost

Kalpana Sharma for The Hindu
Saturday, Jan 27, 2007

If the Goa victory illustrates one thing for Mumbaikars, it is the importance of combining popular and vocal opposition with other strategies.

They are calling it a "people's victory." The Goa Government's decision to denotify the 2011 Regional Development Plan is an outstanding example of the power of protest by non-political groups. Opposition to the plan, mounted by the Goa Bachao Abhiyan, finally led to the Chief Minister denotifying it on January 18.

Political parties have literally jumped on the bandwagon. But it needs to be recognised that the decision to denotify was the result of people's vociferous opposition. The fact that the Assembly elections are due in May also helped.

For people living in a city like Mumbai, the success of the Goan civil society groups comes as a reminder of what is missing in the city. Despite some opposition and several court cases, the Maharashtra Government continues to push through its plans to transform Mumbai into a "global city" that will ultimately have no moorings in its past, nor serve the needs of the majority of its residents.


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People’s Plan-Chandor

Preetu Nair-Gomantak Times
February 25, 2007

Irked by the morass that governance has turned out to be, Chandorcars have decided to step in and "save" their historic village. A group of villagers took the lead to enlist the views and aspitrations of their co villagers, held public meetings in all eight wards and prepared a 5 year plan for Chandor.
"My idea of village swaraj is that it is a complete republic, independent of its neighbours for its wants, and yet interdependent for many others in which dependence is a necessity". Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's words and unhappy with the state of affairs in Chandor, the 2797-odd residents of Chandor have got together to prepare Chandor Ganv Vhodd Zaum, a five-year (2007-2012) people's plan for the sustainable, equitable and people¬friendly development of Chandor.


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LANDBURGER-Quitol Quepem

Derek Almeida – Gomantak Times
February 11, 2007

Once considered a remote sleepy village in South Goa, Quitol has been pushed to center stage with two government departments and a UK-based real estate company fighting for a large chunk of land over looking the sea. And the deeper one delves into the issue the more mysterious it becomes.


The players

The Goa Industrial Development Corporation has initiated the process to acquire four lakh square metres to set up auxiliary services for the food park. The tourism department is pushing a 1992 proposal from Leela Ventures to set up a golf course on the same land to attract high-end tourists.


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Molotov on Mandovi ... the "Russian mafia" in Goa

Reproduced from Outlook India
January 29, 2007

Trouble is brewing in paradise. The sinister and notorious Russian mafia has trained its sights on Goa, the land of tourist-beckoning beaches and wild rave parties. Hounded in France and the UK, and kept a close watch on in the United States and Israel, the Russian crime syndicates have been looking for new pastures in Asia and the Far East to set up shop, to sprout new tentacles for their drugs, arms and flesh trade. With its poor policing and a lax, pliable and corrupt administration, they couldn't have found a better setting than Goa. Also, in a state where tourism is the prime industry, foreigners are not closely monitored and go unnoticed unlike in other parts of the country.


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