Margao News

Files going missing from Margao civic body office is new normal
Navhind Times | 1 day ago
Navhind Times
1 day ago

Chief officer lodged 6 complaints with the policeMargao: Chief officer of the Margao municipality Agnelo Fernandes on Thursday disclosed that he filed six complaints with the Margao town police during his tenure of 19 months on important files going missing from the office of the civic body.Speaking to ‘The Navhind Times’, Fernandes said that important files going missing from the MMC office has become a regular feature.“I was disturbed when the officers concerned passed the buck on the missing files, which forced me to file complaints with the police. I also ignored phone calls that were made after the police complaints were filed,” said Fernandes, who has now been transferred as the member secretary of the Goa State Commission for Backward Classes.The files that went missing pertained to the approach road to the Sonsoddo dumpsite, procurement of grass-cutting machines, purchase of fire extinguishers for the dumpsite, truck hiring for municipality works, purchase of three garbage compactor trucks, construction of a shed for the material recovery facility and well cleaning, reliable sources revealed. Interestingly, the MMC chairperson and councillors have been making light of the files going missing.It has been alleged that that the important files “disappeared in pursuance of protection of someone’s interests, bribery or harassment of some people”.After the complaints were registered, two files were traced within the MMC office. Interestingly, no new file has gone missing in the last four months, the chief officer clarified.He also said that there has been rise in the number of cases filed in the court of the MMC chief officer.Every month on an average 15 new cases are filed in the court of the chief officer, while at least 10 cases are disposed of. Most of these cases pertain to illegal constructions and illegal vending. Cases are also filed against encroachments and blocking of way.Fernandes admitted that there has also been rise in pendency of cases during his tenure as the chief officer.“There were 300 pending cases when I took over. Their number has risen to 550. Nevertheless I succeeded in settling 50 cases in these 19 months,” he disclosed.

Files going missing from Margao civic body office is new normal
Over 40 senior, junior state govt officers reshuffled
Times of India | 2 days ago
Times of India
2 days ago

Panaji: In a routine reshuffle, the government on Wednesday transferred over 40 senior scale and junior scale officers. The transfers come just two days after a similar reshuffle of the state’s top bureaucrats. Undersecretary for general administration Shripad Arlekar has now been appointed as the director for health services. Geeta Nagvenkar, who was serving as PWD deputy director has been promoted as PWD director (administration), in place of Ajit Panchwadkar, who has been transferred and appointed as managing director of Goa State Minorities Finance and Development Corporation. Nagvekar will continue to hold charge as the deputy director at PWD and administrator of communidade central zone. Tushar Harlankar, who was the deputy director of higher education has now been appointed as joint secretary home department. Pravin Volvotkar, the joint director with the IT department and who was posted as the officer on special duty with the commissioner of labour and employment, is now appointed as the director of IT with immediate effect. Additional director at the department of urban development Clen Madeira has been transferred and posted as secretary of Goa Rehabilitation Board. However, he will continue to officiate as additional director at the department of urban development and chief officer of Bicholim Municipal Council. Rohit Kadam, who was deputy commissioner for state taxes, has now been posted as chief officer of Margao Municipal Council. Neha Panvelkar, who was also serving as deputy commissioner for state taxes, has been transferred and appointed as managing director of Goa housing board. Deepesh Priolkar, who is undersecretary to the agriculture minister with additional charge as TCP deputy director, will now serve as the member secretary of the Goa Football Development Corporation along with his existing responsibilities. Deputy registrar of Goa Engineering College, Farmagudi, Pundalik Khorjuekar has been appointed as director of museums. Vishant Gaunekar and Chandresh Kunkalkar, who were serving as deputy commissioners of state taxes, have now been appointed as Goa Education Development Corporation managing director and additional commissioner of state taxes, respectively. Meanwhile, Snehal Goltekar, who was the additional commissioner of state taxes, has been appointed as science and technology director. Margao Municipal Council chief officer Agnelo Fernandes has been moved to the Goa state commission for backward classes as member secretary. Bhushan Savoikar, director of education, will now serve as the secretary at the Goa State Information Commission, replacing Mahadev Araundekar, who heads to Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation as the special land acquisition officer. Deputy chief electoral officer Sangeeta Naik has been appointed as the member secretary of the Goa state commission for women. Aside from this, 25 other junior scale officers have been given new or additional responsibilities.

Over 40 senior, junior state govt officers reshuffled
Goa likely to see rain till Tuesday, temperature normal: IMD
Times of India | 5 days ago
Times of India
5 days ago

PANAJI: Cloudy weather prevailed for most of the day on Saturday, as India meteorological department (IMD), Panaji, forecast rain or thundershowers at isolated places over both districts for four days till Tuesday. During the last 24 hours, there was just 0.5mm rainfall in Margao, a trace in Panaji, while other centres received no rainfall. “The wind patterns are influencing the weather. The westerly winds from the Arabian Sea are bringing moisture and easterly winds at 700 hPa (3km above atmosphere) are advecting clouds towards Goa region,” Rajasree VPM, scientist at IMD, Panaji, said. While this April ended as the wettest April for 85 years (since 1937), rainfall during May so far has been sparse. During the past nearly two-and-a-half months, Pernem witnessed more rainfall activity as the rain gauge centre in the town recorded 205.8mm of rainfall. Sanquelim also received higher rainfall of 110.9mm, Mapusa 75.9mm, Margao 70.2mm, Sanguem 69.2mm, Panaji 61.1mm, and other centres on a lesser scale during the 70+ days. Valpoi had recorded 59.3mm till April 22, but the total has not been updated since then. At the peak of summer, the maximum temperatures have been within normal range. On Friday, the mercury actually went down 2.3 degrees below normal, as IMD, Panaji recorded a maximum temperature of 31.6 degrees Celsius. It rose slightly to 33 degrees Celsius, just 0.9 degrees below normal while many places in the country have been affected by a heat wave.

Goa likely to see rain till Tuesday, temperature normal: IMD
  • Monsoon may hit Goa slightly early this year
  • Times of India

    Panaji: The monsoon may hit Goa marginally earlier this year, as India meteorological department (IMD) said on Friday that it will reach Kerala around May 27, a few days earlier than the normal onset date of May 1. Even as the IMD issues a forecast for the monsoon’s onset over Kerala, it doesn’t predict its progression as it moves north towards Goa. This is because the monsoon’s progress depends on factors such as strength of the current and localised weather features. “The normal onset date of monsoon over Kerala is June 1 and normal date of progress of monsoon over Goa is June 5. This year, monsoon onset is likely over Kerala 4-5 days ahead of its normal date,” IMD scientist Rahul M said. The prediction of May 27 is subject to a model error of plus or minus four days. Rahul said that the data from the past decade or so suggests that there’s no correlation between the monsoon’s arrival in Kerala and its reaching Goa. “There are several examples to show that there may not always be a four-day gap between monsoon onset over Kerala and monsoon advance over Goa,” he said. “Two years – 2017 and 2018 – the monsoon onset was before the normal date over Kerala, but it arrived over Goa two to three days later than the normal date. Whereas in 2021, it arrived on the normal date over Goa, even though the onset date over Kerala was two days late,” he said.

Doubts raised over Margaos pre-monsoon works tender
Times of India | 5 days ago
Times of India
5 days ago

Margao: The Margao Municipal Council (MMC) has invited tenders for undertaking pre-monsoon works including desilting of drains amounting to nearly Rs 17.5 lakh. Two years after the Lokayukta had questioned MMC over the estimates prepared by it, which had uniform amounts for all the desilting works, the MMC this time adopted a different method and has invited tenders for supply of workers for the desilting works. Expressing reservations over the new scheme, Savio Coutinho of Shadow Council said, “As per the work order, the pre-monsoon works shall commence from May 18 and have to be completed by July 2, by which time the monsoons would have well advanced.” “What is interesting to note is that the MMC has no idea whatsoever as to which drains will be allocated to the contractor’s workers to execute the desilting works,” Coutinho told reporters. “In our follow up to an RTI application filed by us with respect to the pre-monsoon works, we learnt that the MMC has not prepared any list of drains that need to be cleaned.” Coutinho said the workers engaged through the contractors were unlikely to be able to give the desired output in view of the rains thus resulting in wastage of public funds. “On the other hand, the MMC has a road gang of around 50 workers, simultaneously clearing the drains in different wards,” he said, pointing to the possibility of inaccurate recording of the works done and bills prepared.

Doubts raised over Margaos pre-monsoon works tender
Power transformer mars aesthetics of Lohia Maidan
Times of India | 1 week ago
Times of India
1 week ago

Margao: A power supply transformer erected by the electricity department inside the Lohia Maidan at Margao is marring the aesthetics of the place contrary to what the ongoing beautification work at the maidan aims to achieve. Beautification of Lohia Maidan is progressing at a pace and the garden is likely to be partially opened to public by June 18, Goa Revolution Day. Sources said that the power supply transformer, which was located a few meters away, was shifted and erected at Lohia Maidan a few years ago to facilitate underground power cabling work. Members of the Freedom Fighters’ Association, who are actively involved in the beautification work, have decried the electricity department’s move to shift the transformer to the Lohia Maidan without obtaining any approvals from the authorities concerned. In order to hide the ugly spot, it was decided to erect a wall around the transformer. However, the idea didn’t find favour with the stakeholders, who have now urged the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA), which is executing the work, to take up the matter with the electricity department and effectits removal. “If a wall is constructed around the transformer, it will block the view of the maidan from the road. People tend to gather on the roadsides and listen to speeches delivered from the maidan,” a source associated with the association said. Lohia Maidan holds a special place in the annals of history as it was on June 18, 1946, that Ram Manohar Lohia addressed a gathering giving a clarion call for Goans to join the freedom struggle. This led to a revolution that culminated in Goa’s liberation on December 19, 1961.

Power transformer mars aesthetics of Lohia Maidan
MMC yet to identify land to dispose of inert waste
Times of India | 1 week ago
Times of India
1 week ago

Margao: Even as the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) is facing flak for its failure to put things in order at the Sonsoddo waste treatment plant, the municipality is now faced with the arduous task of identifying land for disposing the inert residual waste generated from the bioremediation of the legacy dump. Sources said that around 1,000 truck loads of inerts are sitting at the legacy garbage dump site waiting to be transported to the disposal site. MMC chairperson Lyndon Periera said that efforts were under way to identify suitable sites. Apart from approaching government departments to seek permission to use their lands for dumping the inerts, the MMC also seeks to utilise private properties to dispose it of. MMC officials said that as the waste is inert and non-reactive it won’t adversely affect the soil and therefore there should be no reason for landowners not to use the inerts for landfilling of their properties, as was earlier done at land owned by the Kadamba Transport Corporation near the Margao bus stand. Meanwhile, Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) has begun the work of bioremediation of the waste accumulated inside the garbage treatment plant at Sonsoddo. The waste is being transported from inside the plant to the legacy dump site for bioremediation. The GWMC has plans to set up two bio-digesters of 25 tpd (tonnes per day) capacity at Sonsoddo to treat wet waste as announced by minister for waste management Atanasio Monseratte during his site visit last month. It was also decided that MMC would hand over the land to GWMC and that the latter would come out with a detailed project report (DPR) about a comprehensive waste management project proposal at Sonsoddo soon.

MMC yet to identify land to dispose of inert waste
Fun with fruits
Navhind Times | 1 week ago
Navhind Times
1 week ago

Miguel BraganzaThe ‘Ambeamchem Fest’ held at Corlim- Ilhas on Sunday seems to have been well-timed: the prices of mangoes dropped to half the rate of the previous week. There were luscious mangoes, locally grown and naturally ripened in paddy straw, on sale. And it was a pleasure to eat them. It gives the organisers hope for a successful Konkan Fruit Fest from May 13 to 15 to be held in Panaji.The Botanical Society of Goa (BSG) and the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) have brought back the event this year with the support of the Directorate of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, nursery owners, fruit processors and fruit enthusiasts. On-the-spot fruit eating competition (banana and watermelon) is popular among the young and old.A large section of the residents in Goa now live in apartments with little or no access to grow plants. Over the years, especially during the recent pandemic, many home-makers have grown vegetables, chillies, tomatoes and coriander in pots and trays. Some young adults recalled the collection of ‘fruit plants in bonsai pots’ created by Dona Almira Rodrigues that were exhibited at the ‘Festival of Plants & Flowers’ at SFX School, Siolim, in the 1990s when they were students and even the BSG was young. Others have literally taken the art to a higher level; on the terrace.Yogita Mehra has made potted fruit plants available to persons who want home-grown fruits in their apartments but thought that it was impossible, and Daniel D’Souza has even created fruiting bonsai. The competition this year includes potted plants with fruit. Entries will be accepted on Saturday, 14 May at 10 a.m. and can be taken back the same evening or by Sunday 5 p.m.The range of fruit plants grown in Goa is expanding. Whether it is a red-skinned ladyfinger, or banana that catches one’s attention or the purple passion fruit or the ‘Grape Tree’ Jaboticaba or the Kilo Guava in the ground or on the terrace, it is all available in Goa. Oscar Silveira in Borda de Margao and Laban D’Souza in Kirbhatt, Nuvem have large collections of them and Nestor Rangel is marketing the plants as Anup Poinguinkar and Meghnath Kerekar who will be in attendance at the Konkan Fruit Fest 2022 to help you join their ranks as a fruit grower.The BSG’s all Goa Home Garden competition has revealed how the enthusiasm of Jai Naik has enabled him to grow a veritable ‘food forest’ on the sloping RCC roof of his apartment in Margao. He even has a jackfruit bearing tree and an apple tree in blossom!The Konkan Fruit Fest has competitions in fresh fruits and fruit products like jams, pickles, candies, preserves, juices, squashes, syrups, wines, vinegar and other products. It has been the launchpad for many a product as well as a source for germplasm for selections of superior types. Rambutan, mulberry, velvet apple, star apple, and others have become popular through this festival while kokum and jackfruit has added value to the festival. It is the informal and festive atmosphere that promotes learning and exchange of ideas. Come to Panaji and be a part of it this weekend.

Fun with fruits
Staff crunch hits Margao bodys revenue recovery
Times of India | 1 week ago
Times of India
1 week ago

Margao: Even as Margao Municipal Council (MMC) faces a daunting task of recovering revenue amounting to Rs 25 crore, three vacant posts of market inspectors has rendered the exercise that much difficult for the revenue recovery team of the municipality. Sources in MMC said that the municipality has five sanctioned posts of market inspectors, out of which three have been lying vacant for long. Consequently, with the just two market inspectors available on duty, the pace of revenue recovery has been affected to a significant extent, while also affecting the anti-encroachment drives. “Considering the wide geographical area that MMC has under its jurisdiction, it’s imperative that at least two posts of assistant market inspectors are created. But we are now faced with a situation where we are left with just two market inspectors,” a senior official said. The market inspectors, apart from having to do their routine tasks of inspections for trade licences, removal of encroachments, etc, are also engaged in the work of issuing income certificates and other documents during the first half of the day, sources in the municipality said. Market inspectors are also engaged in serving of demand notices for house tax and trade tax, issuing fines as also issuing spot fines for traders violating rules. MMC has currently undertaken a drive aimed at bringing business establishments, corporate houses and financial institutions which have been evading taxes, into the tax net. Last month, notices were sent by MMC to several commercial units in the town identified to be big tax evaders, to produce a copy of their lease agreements and other relevant details. The taxation section of the MMC is currently engaged in verifying the documents that would enable them to levy appropriate taxes on these firms. Sources said that the MMC stands to gain substantially if all these high net worth commercial establishments are brought into the tax net.

Staff crunch hits Margao bodys revenue recovery