GOA TOON
ALEXYZ

Tillari project water supply resumes
PANAJI: The Tillari project has, at last, borne fruit with drinking water being supplied to Assonora and Chandel. The project was conceptualised in 1977 at a tentative cost of Rs.45 crore, which has today reached Rs.1,390 crore. Assonora presently gets 45 mld of water. [NT]

Flop probes? Blame it on forensic delays!
PANJIM: Chances of effective investigations into the rising deaths of foreigners in Goa continue to plummet, due to excessive delays at the Central Forensic Laboratory in Hyderabad. This delay is now pinching the Goan authorities really hard, especially after pressure from various foreign missions to investigate the unnatural deaths of their nationals. Pressure from Britain has been more severe than the rest, especially since British nationals have accounted for 35 per cent of the total deaths of foreigners in the recent past. [GT]

Keith Vaz hosts lunch Churchill Alemao in London

'Send Task Force report to p'yat for comments'
PANJIM: While casting the BJP's lot with the villages opposing mega projects in the state, Opposition leader Manohar Parrikar advised the government saying, "Send the Task Force Report on RP 2021 to all village panchayats for their comments. In case their comments are not received within 120 days, then it should be considered as accepted by them." This, Parrikar felt, would be a panacea for the villagers' ills vis-a-vis their opposition to mega projects as their views will now find a place in the final report of RP 2021. [GT]

Guiding tourists no longer exciting!
PANJIM, May 16: Data shows that while most other divisions of the tourist industry are pampered time and again, tourist guides, who play a key role in publicising Goa via tete-a-tetes with tourists have never been recognised by the Government, virtually shelving what could be a lucrative and bright profession in a tourist State like Goa. In the last two-and-a-half decades, Goa has just about 65 tourist guides on its registers. [Julian D'Costa, Herald]

Rotting Panaji bypassed on central funds report
PANAJI: Panaji has been rocked in recent times by sewage entering the water supply untreated waste flowing into the Mandovi, builders using parking space for commercial purposes, telecom companies misusing and blocking drains and so on. But hope came two years ago in the form of around Rs.370 crore that Panaji is to get over a seven-year period through the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission to improve infrastructure. However, lack of coordination and planning - and allegedly a measure of deceit - appear to have come into the picture in the very first JJNURM project, which involves the relocation of slumdwellers. [Andrew Pereira, TOI]

Molestation case complainant sorry, wants to withdraw case
PANJIM: In an interesting turn of events, after the arrest of Raj Nadar for the alleged molestation of an Indo-Italian teen, the complainant, in a letter on Thursday to the Calangute Police station, expressed her wish to withdraw the case. Apparently, the accused had apologized for his act later. In her letter, she maintained that she felt sorry for Nadar. However, since she had already filed an FIR earlier, withdrawal of the case at this point was not possible. [GT]

Absence of lights on Vagator beach
MAPUSA: Fear has gripped tourist visiting Vagator who prefer to wind up their visit here by 7 pm as the entire Vagator beach is then engulfed in darkness, thanks to the negligence and careless attitude of the tourism department, which has not even bothered to heed to requests either from the local panchayat or from the local MLA, Mr Dayanand Mandrekar. Around 80 solar lamps besides another 5 high mast electric sodium vapour lamps that have been fitted on the entire beach have been non-functional throughout the last tourist season and till date. [NT]

Task Force members to meet Chandor residents
CHANDOR: The cogs of government machinery seem to be finally moving as far as the pilot project for grass root planning is concerned as members of the Task Force are scheduled to meet the villagers of Cavorim Chandor who were the first in Goa, to prepare a five-year sustainable development plan for the village. Cavorim Chandor village plan titled "Chandor Ganv Vhodd Zanv' was a result of a little over seven month work that began at the Gram Sabha meeting held on June 25, 2006, when the then Sarpanch disclosed plans to prepare a development plan for the village. The Gram Sabha then resolved that the villagers should be involved in the planning process and a few villagers took on the task of preparing the plan. [GT]

Carcinogenic tar balls return to mar beaches
PANAJI: Tourists are being turned away by blobs of viscous material being deposited on the beaches of Ashvem in the north and Benaulim in the south by incoming sea water. As summer draws to a close, the sea churns out all the dirt and the grime in the form of tar balls that wash up on the shore. [TOI]

Mother files theft complaint against daughter
MARGAO: A 78-year-old senior citizen has registered a complaint of theft against her own married daughter and son-in-law for their alleged failure to return back to her the gold ornaments valued at Rs.2.10 lakh that were kept in their custody. Colva PSI Brittano Peixote said that "the complainant Mariana Vales of Seraulim has accused her daughter Pilaria Cardozo and her husband Tadeo, residing at Vasco, of having allegedly conspired to steal her gold ornaments when the duo had admitted her to an old age home at Porvorim in 2005". [GT]

Konkan fruit fest underway
PANJIM, May 16: The 3-day Konkan Fruit Fest got underway at Campal Promenade here today with different varieties of fruits of the region including exotic ones on display. There are 20 stalls exhibiting not only mangoes and other fruits of Konkan but also different fruit products including wine. In fact, the organisers of the fruit fest have tried to promote win of Konkan fruits (like Jambun and Kokum) other than of grapes. Besides this cashew wine is a novelty of Goa. [H]