Olive Ridley turtles make a beeline for Agonda, Galgibaga

Times of India | 1 year ago | 17-02-2022 | 07:29 am

CANACONA: Anxiety over a delayed start to the turtle nesting season at Agonda and Galgibaga has given way to relief among forest officials as Olive Ridley turtles made a beeline for both sites and left behind 17 nests. The turtles are known to come in singles but in an amazing episode, four surfaced at Agonda on a single day on February 10 and deposited 454 eggs in the sandy stretches. The season has witnessed a delayed start since the last few years which saw the first nesting only during the last week of December. But the swarm of flippered visitors at the two designated sites of Agonda and Galgibaga over the last few weeks has surprised officials and turtle lovers as the total of nests at the two spots swelled to 23 including six nests at Galgibaga. The first turtle appeared at Agonda beach on December 31, 2021 and at Galgibaga on January 3, 2022, range forest officer (RFO), wildlife, AnantVelip said. The last turtle arrived in the wee hours of Saturday depositing 53 eggs and returned back to the sea. The forest staff which oversees the relocation of eggs to nurseries and patrolling to protect them from poaching, expressed joy over the encouraging number of nests and extremely productive season for the turtles. Turtle conservation was pioneered in south Goa at Galgibaga after Morjim in north Goa. Over the last 43 days as many as 17 Olive Ridley turtles preferred the Agonda beach despite its hustle and bustle, with the last turtle arriving in the intervening hours of 12th and 13th February. After laying 53 eggs it went back in the sea leaving the eggs to be shifted to the nurseries by the forest staff, Velip said. Velip was all praise of the forest staff who have been deputed at the nurseries in Galgibaga and Agonda. “The total number of 17 pits at Agonda account for a record 1,682 eggs,” an official said.

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Margao: Health officer flags water seepage at Comba subway

Times of India | 1 month ago | 22-02-2023 | 10:14 am

Times of India

1 month ago | 22-02-2023 | 10:14 am

MARGAO: Health officer of urban health centre, Margao, has red-flagged a potential health hazard in the seepage of water through the subway at Comba, Margao.In a letter addressed to the deputy collector (DRO), South Goa, the health officer said that a site inspection of the Comba subway has revealed that the stagnation of water is a potential breeding ground for mosquitoes. “Water constantly seeps/leaks into the subway from both sides of the road and gets stagnated on the stretch ,” the letter read. Stating further that the source of seepage couldn’t be identified, the health officer requested the deputy collector to depute an expert technical team to troubleshoot the problem. Executive engineer, PWD (sewerage), Joaquim Fernandes, said that they have succeeded in tracing the source of the leakage to subsoil water drainage and that it has now been plugged. “There was a subsoil leakage in the subway (probably on account of the spring water finding its way through the subway). Last week we noticed traces of sewage seeping through the subway. The leakage has now been plugged. What remains now is the dried up stagnated water,” Fernandes told TOI.The waterlogged subway has turned out to be a nuisance for the road users, including the pedestrians, for the last several weeks, owing to the consistent flow of water emanating a foul smell. While water logging during monsoons was understandable, what caused to raise eyebrows among the public was the stagnation of water even during the dry season. What’s worse was that the problem lay unidentified for long .Margao MLA Digambar Kamat had inspected the subway last month and issued directions to the PWD to locate the source of seepage and plug it on an urgent basis.

Drunken driving, indiscipline behind spike in accidents: Goa CM Pramod Sawant

Times of India | 1 month ago | 22-02-2023 | 10:11 am

Times of India

1 month ago | 22-02-2023 | 10:11 am

PANAJI: CM Pramod Sawant on Tuesday said that drunken driving and indiscipline on roads are some of the reasons for the increase in accidents. He added that the Goa police traffic cell, transport department and PWD are holding meetings and will chalk out a plan to reduce accidents.Sawant pointed out that the vehicle population has increased compared to the state population. "There are three reasons for the increase in accidents. These include people not following rules, drunken driving, rash and negligence driving among others," he said. The chief minister added that people should cooperate with the authorities, and this will help reduce the frequency of road accidents.In 2020, the vehicle population was 14.5 lakh vehicles, in 2021, it was 14.9 lakh and in 2022 it climbed to 15.4 lakh, but the infrastructure more or less stayed the same. Police said that looking at 2020-21 and 2021-2022, there has been a 3% increase in vehicle population, but the infrastructure hasn't changed much.It has been found that two-thirds of the people who died in road accidents in 2022 were linked to two-wheelers. The state witnessed an almost 9% rise in road accidents during the year.In 2022, 3,011 road accidents were reported, of which 253 were fatal, wherein 271 succumbed to injuries. A total number of 181 persons on two-wheelers died in accidents while 51 pedestrians lost their lives.In 2021, 2,849 accidents were reported, of which 218 were fatal. Almost 226 people lost their lives. A total number of 152 persons on two-wheelers died while 36 pedestrians were killed.The highest number of accidents in North Goa was reported in the jurisdiction of Panaji, Mapusa and Porvorim police stations areas. In South Goa, the highest number of accidents were reported in Ponda, Verna and Vasco police station areas.State witnessed 9% rise in road accidents in 2022In 2020, the vehicle population was 14.5 lakh vehicles, in 2021, it was 14.9 lakh and in 2022 it climbed to 15.4 lakh, but the infrastructure more or less stayed the same. Police said that looking at 2020-21 and 2021-2022, there has been a 3% increase in vehicle population, but the infrastructure hasn't changed much.It has been found that two-thirds of the people who died in road accidents in 2022 were linked to two-wheelers. The state witnessed an almost 9% rise in road accidents during the year.In 2022, 3,011 road accidents were reported, of which 253 were fatal, wherein 271 succumbed to injuries. A total number of 181 persons on two-wheelers died in accidents while 51 pedestrians lost their lives.In 2021, 2,849 accidents were reported, of which 218 were fatal. Almost 226 people lost their lives. A total number of 152 persons on two-wheelers died while 36 pedestrians were killed.The highest number of accidents in North Goa was reported in the jurisdiction of Panaji, Mapusa and Porvorim police stations areas. In South Goa, the highest number of accidents were reported in Ponda, Verna and Vasco police station areas.

Bengaluru swimmers dominate 11th Goa Swimathon 2023

Times of India | 1 month ago | 21-02-2023 | 09:45 am

Times of India

1 month ago | 21-02-2023 | 09:45 am

Bengaluru based swimmers completely dominated the just concluded, 11th Goa Swimathon organised by Enduro Sports and powered by miniOrange held at the Betalbatim beach in South Goa.Bengaluru bagged 50 podium positions ( gold, silver and bronze) followed by Mumbai who bagged 22 podiums and hosts Goa finished third with 15 podium positions. A total of 700 swimmers took part in the event from across India.Sagar Badve (32), hearing and visually impaired swimmer from Aurangabad in Maharashtra won the longest, 11 km race clocking 3:38:03 hours. Sagar, who has represented India in the Special Olympics, has also successfully swum the Strait of Gibralter in 2010. He was felicitated by the President of India on World Disabled Persons’ Day on December 3, 2022.Over 50 physically challenged and disabled swimmers took part in the event this year, in which Aahil Sheikh, 13-year-old hearing impaired school boy from Bicholim, Goa covered himself with glory winning both the 250 metres and one km races in the sub-junior category.The event also saw, Sheron Figarado, professor at IIT-Goa and a physically challenged swimmer come third in the 250 metres race in the seniors category.Other highlights include the participation of Bengaluru podium winners, Gopal Rao (77) and Lalitha Vijayaraghavan (72) the oldest swimmers at the event, Mumbai wife-husband team of Valerie and Zarir Baliwalla, who both won their respective races, Former India international Nisha Millet of Bengaluru winning her 5.5 km race in 01:41:55 hrs and Nicole Pavri of Goa, who won her one km race, coming back after a serious, cervical spine fracture last year.

11 yrs later, SC dismisses appeals of two accused in kidnapping case

Times of India | 1 month ago | 21-02-2023 | 04:38 am

Times of India

1 month ago | 21-02-2023 | 04:38 am

Margao: Nearly 11 years after the crime, the Supreme Court has dismissed appeals of the two accused sentenced to life imprisonment for kidnapping an 11-year-old child from Fatorda for a Rs 20-lakh ransom.On September 19, 2011, the South Goa police rescued the minor boy after intercepting the vehicle in which he was being held hostage at Curti, Ponda.Rupesh alias Uday Falkar from Margao and Duliano alias Vital Fernandes were arrested, and subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment by the sessions court. The conviction was upheld by the high court. After hearing the arguments filed by the applicants against their conviction under Section 364 A (kidnapping for ransom) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the court in its judgement expressed its inability to bring the case under Section 363 (kidnapping from lawful guardianship) of the IPC as contended in the appeal. While an offence under Section 364 A attracts death punishment or life imprisonment, that under Section 363 is punishable with imprisonment for up to seven years. Both the accused were employed as drivers by the child’s father.“On the conspectus of the testimony analysed, we are really not able to bring the case under Section 363 of IPC, though we may have some consideration for the age of the appellants and this being a sole incident, it is not really within the domain of this court to go contrary to the legislative domain which prescribes the punishment for such an offence, and we do take note of the fact that the accused being a driver, man of trust for the family, used to be so utilised, breached the trust while kidnapping a child of 11 years of age with special needs,” the court said in its judgement by justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Abhay Oka. The boy was kidnapped by the accused while he was returning home from school, and hours later, his businessman father received a call demanding a ransom of Rs 20 lakh for the safe release of the child. Acting swiftly on the father’s complaint, the South Goa police constituted four special teams in plainclothes and proceeded in private cars carrying along with them the ransom amount to track down the kidnappers. The idea was to secure the safe release of the child after paying the ransom.However, the kidnappers kept calling the father frequently, changing the location where they could be contacted to pay the ransom. However, a police team led by then Margao PI Santosh Dessai intercepted the car near Curti. The police had to fire seven rounds to stop the car and overpower the kidnappers. The boy was rescued without being hurt.While granting the accused four weeks’ time to surrender, the court said that they can seek remission on completion of the minimum sentence as per norms.

Panel visits school to probe child’s death in hot water tub

Times of India | 1 month ago | 16-02-2023 | 11:22 am

Times of India

1 month ago | 16-02-2023 | 11:22 am

MARGAO: The child welfare committee, North Goa, on Wednesday visited St Francis Xavier Academy for special children and conducted a detailed inquiry into the death of a seven-year-old child on Monday, caused by falling into a hot water tub. “Whenever such cases occur, it is mandatory under the Juvenile Justice Act to conduct an in-depth inquiry, check facilities and take statements of all concerned,” the chairperson of the child welfare committee, North Goa, told TOI. “We conducted the inquiry and will submit our detailed report to the directorate of women and child development and the district collector.” The inquiry report is likely to be submitted on Thursday. Thereafter, the directorate of women and child development will take a call on the action to be taken. The directorate has also called for an incident report from police. To ensure the safety and well-being of inmates, regular inspections of the 56 childcare institutions of Goa are conducted by the two district inspection committees headed by the collectors of North and South Goa, director of women and child development Deepali Naik said. The committee members interact with children and staff, check children’s academic progress, ensure that documentation is in place, and follow up on the renewal of licences which is done every five years. Instructions are accordingly given to institutions to improve facilities for children. “The focus is on the safety and well-being of children,” Naik said. “The committee checks how an institution is run and whether all the necessary facilities and services are provided to children including counselling.” Naik added, “The committee also checks the individual plan prepared for each child and assesses the cleanliness of institutions.”

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