Instead of tunnel, Gadkari told us Karmalghat will get 6-lane or 4-lane highway: Tawadkar

Times of India | 2 months ago | 19-09-2022 | 04:18 am

Canacona: The much talked about proposal for the construction of a tunnel at Karmalghat as an alternative to the expansion of the highway which will involve felling of thousands of trees, may be scrapped or has been put on the back burner.Speaker of Goa assembly and Canacona MLA Ramesh Tawadkar said that the proposal has been deferred as the Union minister for road transport Nitin Gadkari said that it is not technically viable. “Instead a six-lane proposal has been put forth and this might get the approval considering the view of the greens,” Tawadkar told TOI.He also said road engineers will study what best can be done with regards to the turns and curves along the highway where accidents frequently take place. Environmental activists had suggested a tunnel to avoid felling of thousands of trees that will be needed to be cut for the expansion of the highway.This demand was put forth by Tawadkar during a video conferencing with Gadkari recently. Voicing the concerns of the environmentalists, he told the senior Union minister that a tunnel is needed to avoid accidents on the ghats and also to prevent the ecology from being destroyed during the proposed road widening.Gadkari replied, ‘I will do one thing, I will make this stretch an accident-free zone. If possible, we’ll make it 6-lane or else 4-lane, by acquiring land. As regards felling of trees, which are around 2,500, let the permission from Goa happen quickly, and at my end, I will immediately commence the works.”“You only see that permission to cut these trees comes from the forest department. I will also tell my people to put the proposal before the forest authority. Once forest clearance comes, we will go all-out for land acquisition process and no sooner both these works are over, I will see that this accident-prone section at Karmalghat is made accident-free,” he told Tawadkar.

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IndiGo to start operations from Goa’s second airport from January 5 with 168 flights per week

Times of India | 3 hours ago | 08-12-2022 | 09:08 pm

Times of India

3 hours ago | 08-12-2022 | 09:08 pm

PANAJI: Ahead of the inauguration of the new Goa International Airport at Mopa low cost airline IndiGo announced that it would start 12 daily flights from the new airport from January 5. IndiGo will operate 168 weekly flights connecting all the major metros along with Pune, Jaipur and Ahmedabad. The private airline said the Mopa will be the "largest ever new station launch" in the country with direct flights to eight airports. At the same time, IndiGo said that it will continue with the existing flights from Goa International Airport at Dabolim. "We are very excited to announce our largest ever new station launch with new direct connections from the New Goa International Airport in Mopa," said IndiGo chief executive officer Pieter Elbers. IndiGo said that the new flights are designed to cater to travelers who are "constantly on the lookout for new and affordable flying options" to fly to Goa whether for business or for tourism. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate Goa’s second international airport at Mopa on December 11 but the airport will begin operations from January 5. IndiGo said that it is introducing new flights to cater to the “increasing demand” from tourists who want to travel to north Goa. “Residents of Goa will also be able to utilize these new services to fly directly to many large cities across India and utilize IndiGo’s comprehensive network at its hubs to connect onward to its entire network spanning more than 100 destinations,” said the airline in a statement.

Man drives car onto Goa’s Morjim beach; tourism department writes to police to file FIR

Times of India | 4 hours ago | 08-12-2022 | 08:35 pm

Times of India

4 hours ago | 08-12-2022 | 08:35 pm

PANAJI: In what is becoming a trend among tourists, yet another individual drove a car onto a beach, this time onto the Morjim beach. With images of the vehicle being circulated on social media, the tourism department directed the Pernem Police Station to file an FIR against the unidentified individuals. According to deputy director for Tourism Dhiraj Vagle, the incident occurred on Thursday noon time. The vehicle, a Toyota Innova Crysta, appears stuck in the sand at Morjim. Photographs of the car, which has Goa registration, showed three individuals besides the car which is close to the high tide line. Morjim is a known Olive Ridley turtle nesting site and the government has banned all forms of activity that can disturb the turtles. The tourism department has also declared driving on Goa's beaches as a nuisance as such activities can damage the tourism potential of Goa’s beaches. Incidents where tourists violate rules and drive in a reckless manner have become common in Goa. “One unauthorized vehicle bearing registration No GA 03 Z 8474 was found to be recklessly and illegally driving at Morjim beach stretch,” said Vagle. Vagle asked the police to file an FIR against the driver and owner of the vehicle under section 188 of IPC. Along with criminal proceedings, the guilty will also have to pay a fine of Rs 5000 extendible up to Rs 50000. Under the Goa Tourist Places Protection and Maintenance Act, the tourism department has prohibited several activities including cooking of food in open spaces, begging, driving on beaches, drinking in public, massages, unauthorized hawkers and selling of cruise tickets. In this case, the owner of the car is liable for fines to the tune of Rs 5000 extendible upto Rs 50000. Goa has witnessed several instances of tourists taking their personal vehicles and rented vehicles for a drive on the beach, often even driving into the water. In the past, several vehicles got bogged down in the sand and were even partially submerged in water.

Benaulim beach witnessed a rescue operation carried out by a woman lifesaver

Times of India | 10 hours ago | 08-12-2022 | 02:08 pm

Times of India

10 hours ago | 08-12-2022 | 02:08 pm

Ananyaa Bath, a woman lifesaver from Drishti Marine, was involved in a successful rescue operation at Benaulim Beach. The rescued person was a 40-year-old female tourist. Ananyaa Bat is one of five women lifesavers on the lifesaving team that conducts daily rescues and other beach-related tasks. A family on the beach was located close to the shore, when two of the family members who were under the influence of alcohol decided to venture deeper into the sea. While the two sisters were out in the deep waters, a sudden huge wave knocked one of the sisters over. She was temporarily submerged and took in water through her mouth and nose, which led to her suffocation. The other sister with her witnessed her struggle and began shouting for help. On noticing the commotion, Ananya Bhat and two other lifesavers Punu and Subhash, who were stationed at the nearest lifesaver tower, rushed to their rescue using equipment such as a rescue board and rescue tube. The two sisters were safely brought to shore. The person who was knocked over by the wave was having immense difficulty in breathing. Ananyaa, the female lifesaver carried out CPR and cleared her airway, bringing the individual back to a recovery state. The victim was subsequently handed over to the emergency services for further examination.

1,800 Canacona students go without midday meal

Times of India | 1 day ago | 07-12-2022 | 11:11 am

Times of India

1 day ago | 07-12-2022 | 11:11 am

CANACONA: Nearly 1,800 students in schools in Canacona’s Agonda and Khola panchayats have been deprived of the midday meal facility from October 1 after the self-help group (SHG) providing the meals found it uneconomical to continue with the service. Assistant district education inspector (ADEI), Canacona, Lawrence Pereira, who confirmed the development, told TOI that a letter from Omkar SHG, which provided the meals to schools in these areas, has been sent to the department and that the department is exploring alternatives to address the situation. “The government is aware that the rate offered to SHGs is not sufficient, but has not paid heed to our repeated demands to raise the amount. As it was not economically viable to supply meals, we had no other alternative but to discontinue,” said Sandhya Dessai, who runs the SHG. She said that Omkar SHG along with Surbhi, Astha and Shivam SHGs were awarded contracts to provide midday meals in various schools of Canacona. However, Surbhi and Shivam SHGs discontinued the service four years ago citing rise in rates and other technical difficulties. Following this, Omkar and Astha were the only SHGs supplying the midday meal with Omkar catering to 2,900 students, and Astha 1,700 students, Dessai said. Dessai’s SHG continues to provide midday meals to schools in Poinguinim and Loliem-Polem panchayats. Previously, the government had fixed a rate of Rs 5.1 per student from Classes I to IV, and Rs 6.6 per student from Classes V to VIII. These rates were revised to Rs 6.11 and Rs 7.45 per student, respectively, with effect from 2014, Dessai said. SHGs used to supply bhaji pao, sheera, khichdi and pulao dishes, but this year the department of education revised the menu to include idlis, bhaji, pulao, chickpeas or moong, while pao was replaced with chapatis. Dessai said the rates of all these items have increased and hence it was not economically viable to continue with the service at the present rates. Besides the expense related to food items, she said that she has to sustain staff and transportation of the food. “Each of the four vehicles hired to transport the meals is paid Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 depending on the distance and the area they have to cover. Besides this, I use my own vehicle to take the food to schools in Marlim and Tirval,” Dessai said, adding that her 11 women staff are paid Rs 300 per day.

‘Broken’ AC keeps open heart surgery patients waiting

Times of India | 1 day ago | 07-12-2022 | 07:40 am

Times of India

1 day ago | 07-12-2022 | 07:40 am

Panaji: Three patients requiring open heart surgeries have been waiting since Monday for Goa Medical College (GMC) to perform these procedures. The surgeries, scheduled after a long wait for Monday, were rescheduled on Tuesday, but again couldn’t be carried out as the central air-conditioning in the cardiac operation theatre failed to function post maintenance work carried out by Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) over the weekend. Cleaning staff were seen soaking up the water that was leaking from the air-conditioning into the corridors of GMC. Patients and relatives have been under stress as they were ready for the surgeries and had already waited for a considerable period to get a scheduled date on the long waiting list. Patients said they had to remain fasting, causing inconvenience to them.The patients said they were ready for the surgeries on Monday and were told the surgery would be held on Tuesday instead. They are hoping that the surgeries now scheduled for Wednesday will take place, but there is no guarantee regarding this.GSIDC had begun the air-conditioning maintenance work on Saturday and was due to have the operation theatre ready for operations on Monday. But sources said the air-conditioning wasn’t functioning and failed to cool even after the maintenance work was carried out. Each open-heart surgery takes around six hours, and it is not possible to begin surgeries unless temperatures are below 20 degrees. The sealed operation theatre runs on centralised air-conditioning and operations are conducted from Monday to Friday. Dean GMC Dr S Bandekar on Tuesday said it was a technical issue, and that GSIDC engineers were on the job to fix the problem.

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