To Goanet - When I termed the loop of Batim and Talaulim as "pristine" in my earlier posting concerning the chapel at Gauxim, I spoke a day too soon. I should have known that the f*#$%g Dilliwallahs are EVERYWHERE in Goa. I had noticed a house under construction during my drives up the slope to the Gauxim chapel but had been too occupied with photography. Today morning I went again, in part to take a shot of the nearby magnificent St Anne's church at Talaulim from across the pond in Batim.
This is the slope leading to the Gauxim chapel - http://www.parrikar.org/images/samples/batim-1.jpg On the right, in a clearing, in what is almost certainly not a settlement zone, this sight - http://www.parrikar.org/images/samples/batim-2.jpg A closer look at the house - http://www.parrikar.org/images/samples/batim-3.jpg http://www.parrikar.org/images/samples/batim-4.jpg Nearby are other signs that signal imminent construction activity so I suspect this is just the beginning of the assault. I asked the Batim villagers below and they said the house is being constructed by someone from Delhi. So I went to the Batim sarpanch and asked him how & why permission was granted. He looked nervous and immediately agreed to show me the files (if I came to the panchayat office on Wednesday). He also asked me if the construction was illegal (as if he didn't know) and said all the approvals were given by the earlier sarpanch. Then he revealed that this house is being built by one Kiran Dhingra. My remarks: Goa is being destroyed every single day. The shameless (and now illegtimate) government of Digambar Kamat has no controls, no supervision, no enforcement, no monitoring, nothing! It is a free for all right now. Just yesterday the Utt Goenkara folks interceded in the illegal hill cutting going on in Curca by one Bhagatsingh Sonaye attached to Goa Medical College (reported in today's newspapers such as Tarun Bharat, Herald etc). That violations are happening all over is known to those in the highest rungs of power yet they look askance, or even collude to help the rich and the powerful. I would like to know why, given all this, the GBA Convener Dr Oscar Rebello has issued a paean to Digambar Kamat. The same Digambar Kamat and his Congress party who are complicit in Goa's ongoing destruction. Now who is going to deal with this Batim case? Regards, r ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ
