Opposition to SH-8 by Chandor-Cavorim Gram Sabha in Goa

In the villages of Chandor and Guirdolim, villagers are coming together to prevent the construction of a proposed state highway (SH-8), which they are claiming is being forced in without consultation.

Their contention is that "the road from Rawanfond to Paroda has been broadened and many parts of the houses were even demolished to broaden it as it was a state highway no. 8; and therefore the 'village road' passing through Chandor cannot be notified as SH-8". The villagers further said that they collected the maps of RP 2001 and 2011 of the villages right from Aquem Baixo to Paroda and Sao Jose de Areal, which show the state highway 8 passing from Aquem Baixo via Sao Jose de Areal, and Paroda but in the draft RP 2021 the state highway 8 is shown as passing through Chandor.

This issue has seemingly been complicated by the letter from the Chief Town Planner to the PWD Executive Engineer where it was claimed that the highway was notified in the official gazette on February 17, and the same has been shown in the RP 2021 based on the RP 2001.

A meeting called for in Chandor on Oct 22nd was widely attended by the villagers raising their objections to the proposed SH-8 and laying out their future course of action.

A busy weekend coming up in Trivandrum

So after a pretty interesting Stories Worth Sharing Trivandrum 1.0 in September, we now have Stories Worth Sharing Trivandrum 2.0 happening this Saturday on 21st Oct. at the Alliance Francaise de Trivandrum.

Also taking taking place simultaneously at the Alliance Francaise de Trivandrum from the 20th of Oct to the 01st of Nov is the Technicolour Muse which is a solo art exhibition presented by Latha Kurien Rajeev.

Scoot on to the next day, Sunday 22nd Oct at Infosys campus, we have TEDx Thiruvananthapuram taking place.

For a place that many years ago I considered dry for not having activities or things to do, it sure has come a long way. 

More checking in China and seafarers scanned too

Back in early July 2017, Chinese police in Xinjiang started stopping chinese citzens and checking if they had installed a government mandated spyware 'Jingwang' on their phones. On 10th July, mobile phone users in the region had received a message stating they had 10 days to install the app and failure to do so would lead to a 10-day prison sentence.

According to the government, the app has benign functions. The main function is to block pornographic websites, online scams, trojan horses, and phishing sites; to alert users of how much time they spend online; and to enable remote control of one’s home network. The tool is intended to help kids develop a healthy lifestyle by building a safe web filter for the minors.

Though, users have noticed that the spyware also searches through your phone’s storage and checks the hashes of media files to make sure that you aren’t holding any illegal images.

Today, the Hong Kong Shipowners Association (HKSOA) released a notice regarding a situation wherein Immigration authorities boarded a ship in Ningbo and downloaded content from the mobile phones of the seafarers onboard.

Are the two related? The ship has being told that this is part of a nationwide anti-terrorist campaign. But the loss of privacy and whether personal data remained secure remained unanswered. 

Ziro -

The Ziro music festival took place from 28th Sept to 01st Oct this year. And usual I didn't make it. This is something I've been wanting to do for a while and something or the other keeps coming up. Next time may be.

But the option to book your own camping spot with various camping packages seems to make this different from the other music festivals around. Of course their lineup also keeps people looking forward to more every year given that they keep looking around in India for new music options.
For an idea on the kind of rates for the tickets which include camping site rates (you have to BYOT or Bring Your Own Tent) this would provide a good idea.

Also, Indian citizens need to apply for an Inner Line Permit (ILP) can be easily booked online. Foreigners need to book for a Protected Area Permit (PAP).

Aah well, 2018...

Delicious times in Goa

And just like that, Delicious pork chops in Ribandar ensures that more people will get there and it will run out faster.

Yeah.

I know.

I just added to it.

Bombay HC strikes down MoEF's notification to transfer Goa's NGT cases from Pune to New Delhi

A couple of days ago Justice G.S. Patel passed a judgement striking down the Ministry of Environment and Forests' (MoEF) notification that transferred Goa's National Green Tribunal (NGT) cases from Pune to New Delhi.

Numerous cases have been filed in the NGT in Pune against various environmental violations regarding permissions granted for unscrupulous builders. Some have been dismissed as frivolous. But a good majority of them have been filed by concerned citizens who do not want to see the Goa of old fall by the side in the face of unsustainable construction and cutting down of tree cover.

It is being said that the cases were transferred to New Delhi to make it difficult for the common man to travel there often, as would be required with the numerous adjournments, and thus dissuade them from following up on the cases.

An extract from the judgement of Justice G.S Patel has been doing the rounds on facebook and whatsapp and it is being hailed as one of the most well written pieces to describe Goa in a while.

"This (Goa) is an extraordinary state, in more ways than one, a place where, perhaps more than anywhere else, sky, sea and earth meet. From horizon to horizon, it is a land of abundant richness. It is a land of confluences, where diverse strands meet and co-exist; and, in a time of apparently incessant strife and discord, it is still a mostly liberal land. It is a kind and gentle land, of a kind and gentle people. And it is also a land that, given its small size and small population, has had a wholly disproportionate influence on our art, culture, language, music, literature, architecture, history, design and more (even food, for many of what we consider our staples first came from here). Its greatest asset is one: its environment and its ecology — its rivers and riverbanks, its beaches, its lakes and clear streams, its dense forests, its low hills and fertile fields, its boulders and even trees shrouded with moss and vines and lichen in the rains, its ridiculously brilliant sunsets.

One needs only to turn off an arterial road to either east or west to see all this first-hand, and all of it within but a few minutes. If the NGT in Pune has so very many cases from Goa, it is not because — or not just because — the people of Goa are litigious; if true, that may only speak to their continued faith in the legal system and its processes. It is because they perceive that there is something of value here to protect. Few are frivolous causes; in the past few weeks, we saw none. Many, and perhaps most, are of very serious concern, raising vital questions of both public law and environmental governance.

To be sure, the government has before it a delicate balancing task of safe-guarding the environment and providing for development. What is important, however, is that a cause must be brought for an issue to be addressed. In our experience, one that none can deny, we have seen a very large number of worthy causes.

Our duty, and that of every government too, must be to ensure that these attempts to protect the environment can be brought to a forum that is close at hand, where environmental issues can be addressed quickly, without having to travel inordinate distances, and at a cost that the poorest in the land, not just the well-heeled, can afford. These are, after all, struggles for a better tomorrow. This or that particular cause may be lost. But no cause should be allowed to be lost for want of trying. For that, we have those who petition us. Equally certainly, no cause should be allowed to be lost for want of a court. That is up to us, and to the government.

For this is something none can deny: this is a land truly worth fighting for."

There is of course, the unfortunate news doing the rounds that the Goa government will proceed to take this matter up in the Supreme Court to appeal against the High Court ruling. If true, this would raise the question as to why is the government so hell-bent upon making sure the cases are heard in Delhi and ensure that it would be all the more difficult for the citizens, of whom it is an elected representative, to make their cases heard.

One only hopes that the MoEF and the State Government pay heed to the High court suggestions wherein it spoke highly of the Senior Counsel in the Goa Bar and about the junior Bar too and also recommended taking up the proposal to establish a circuit bench in Goa.

Of FIFA World Cup celebrations and clean stadiums

The U-17 FIFA World Cup is currently underway in India and the U-17 national team had a commendable outing for their maiden appearance even though they lost all 3 games in the group stage and are knocked out. A first-ever goal scored in a football world cup for India in the match against Colombia could be hailed as the highlight.

In all those celebrations though, images have been making the rounds of all the mess left behind by the spectators. Is it too much to ask for to carry the waste to a bin on your way out? We keep grumbling about the mess at every corner in the country. Forget political weightage to the cleanliness drives. It's just a simple carry-and-drop to teh nearest bin. If it's full and overflowing and you cannot carry the waste to the next bin, no matter. At least the authorities have an inkling that the provisions for the waste are insufficient. Leaving the mess at the seats only makes it that much more difficult to clean.

There have been complaints raised against organisers for the lack of drinking water available, unclean toilets, lack of signage, and where there has been signage, access has been blocked off with no alternative directions available. That is something we need the organisers to own up responsibility for and ensure better arrangements as the tournament progresses.

For now, one step at a time we say. Let's start with ourselves. And the change shall follow.

The return to blog life...

And so I'm back! 7 years, 4 months and 7 days since my last post, and multiple tours-of-duty later I finally manage to get to my blog. A LOT of water has passed by under the bridge.

Watched friends get married, have kids, move house, take new jobs even. Have had a lot of travelling while sailing too. Was lucky to get onboard a container feeder vessel doing the U.S. east coast and the Caribbean which allowed me to explore quite a bit of the much touted Carib culture. Another time I'd been ashore in Brasil for close to a fortnight waiting for my ship to berth so I could get on it. Had my ship involved in a collision with another on one occassion and on another occassion a different ship I was on had a grounding incident while exiting a river passage. Seven years is a long time with a plethora of tales. Let's see what I can put down from here on.

Currently I've been ashore for an extended period of time trying to clear my exams and get my next higher license. And given the amount of time I've had on my hands I can only attribute it to sheer laziness that I haven't gotten back to this blog.

Time and tide wait for no man, so here's to trying to get this blog back up and running.

In the words of the ever immortal Cap'n Jack Sparrow... 'Now - bring me that horizon'.