In the bustling heart of Mapusa, a fresh tale of ambition and innovation has emerged, illustrating a unique approach to urban development.
This story isn't just about a new construction project but also a brilliant lesson on how those in power can bypass pesky regulations to achieve their lofty goals.
Why bother with the tedious task of obtaining licenses and following proper procedures when you can simply kick off construction without any of the mandatory approvals?
A certain politician, confident in his invincible status thanks to his affiliation with the ruling BJP, decided to cut through the bureaucratic nonsense and get straight to business.
In a bold move, the construction of a shed for a vehicle company commenced sans any of the required licenses. The politician's innovative thinking was clear: who needs permission when you're part of the ruling group? Surely, no one would dare question such audacity.
Yet, the plot thickens.
This shining example of haughtiness and nepotism wasn't unearthed by mainstream media!! Instead, the spotlight fell on this story through the ever-vigilant social media.
A few self-styled activists, armed with curiosity and a knack for sniffing out irregularities, embarked on their own investigation.
They quickly uncovered the unsanctioned roots of the construction and its connection to the politician.
With a digital megaphone, these activists broadcasted their findings far and wide. Their relentless push for accountability forced at least one local authority to awaken from its slumber and issue a stop-work notice on the illegal construction.
And thus, Mapusa's latest saga stands as a testament to modern governance: where construction begins before approval and social media ensures justice is served, one viral post at a time.
Sudin Dhavalikar ko
gussa kyon ata hai?
Social media, or rather users and netizens, aren't very kind to Goa's perpetually in power, Power Minister Ramkrishna (Sudin) Dhavalikar.
Earlier this week, accompanied by the Chief Electrical Engineer Stephen Fernandes and other top engineers, Dhavalikar addressed a press conference to make public the efforts put by the department in taking measures to be prepared for the vagaries of upcoming monsoon.
However, Dhavalikar devoted a significant portion of that press conference to give vent to his angst over criticism and complaints about power outages on social media.
Dhavalikar flagged the trend where consumers take to social media to complain about power failures and at times tag the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) to these posts.
In the same breath, however, the minister may have said it "does not affect us and our department's officials who work hard to ensure smooth supply of power," but the body language clearly betrayed his angst over this tagging of PMO and CMO.
Here's the reason why: politics.
Dhavalikar, while admitting that some complaints may be genuine, many others he felt are made at the behest of rival politicians.
“Some complaints are genuine and some are lodged at the behest of politicians. They are instigated by politicians,". was how he signed off on the issue.
That's not all. Dhavalikar, who otherwise rarely gets unnerved, seemed to be uncharacteristically unnerved by the complaint that he never responds to calls from consumers. The minister took to the denial mode and blamed it on the lack of sufficient signal of mobile telephony at his residence in Kavlem.
"There is no range in my home. People should send me text messages. I will then respond," Dhavalikar said.
Indeed, while technology can come up with solutions to the most vexed problems, it doesn't seem to be too kind to Dhavalikar
When citizens halted
felling of age old trees
The scene is not always gloomy. Only, the good times when when well meaning citizens have a reason to smile even if they come after a struggle, hardly get rarely get reported amidst all the gloom and doom in the media.
One such instance came to our light in Taleigao on Thursday when at the Santismao Vaddo locality a section of the State machinery including the Mamlatdar and the Panaji police tacitly backed a private party in the latter's attempt to hack down century-old rain trees.
Apparently, one Mohammed Faizel Shah alias Faizal Mohammed Shah who co-owns a property there, had permissions to cut down the trees. However, one of these trees could not have been legally felled as it needed the nod of the other co-owners, including PWD and the Government of Goa, none of who had provided consent.
Vigilant citizens from the neighbourhood intervened and contacted the police, presenting evidence that the tree was not on the licencee's property. However, the police continued to back the tree cutter. The Mamlatdar, who is executive magistrate later arrived with more police personnel and also tacitly backed the tree cutting expedition.
However, the persistence of the group of citizens delayed the tree cutting operation for long enough when an official of the Forest Department arrived on the scene with an order to stay the felling of the tree it had earlier granted permission for.
Sometimes, all is well that ends well, as well.
