Friday 26 June 2015

Objections to stationing of Casino boats in Zuari river

Date: 19th June 2015


To,
Minister of Fisheries
Government of Goa,
Porvorim, Goa


To,
The Chairman,
Murmogao Port Trust,
Headland, Sada, Vasco


To,
Commissioner and Secretary (Ports)
Secretariat, Porvorim, Goa


To,
The Captain of Ports,
Panjim, Goa


To,
The Secretary (Fisheries)
Secretariat, Porvorim, Goa


To,
The Collector (North Goa)
Panjim, Goa


To
The Collector (South Goa)
Margao, Goa



Subject: Objections to stationing of Casino boats in Zuari river
Dear Madam/ Sir,
We have come to know from newspaper reports in Herald May 27, 2015 that off shore casinos in Mandovi is going to be shifted to Zuari River, Chapora River and at Aguada Bay. It is also reported that this decision is taken by Goa’s Port administration.

We have also read on May 25, 2015 at http://tourismbreakingnews.com/seaplane-tourism-in-goa-from-august/ that seaplanes, heli-tourism and amphibious buses would be introduced in Mandovi river, Chapora river and Coco beach from August  2015 onwards. From this it is evident that Mandovi River is going to be congested and fishing activity will be disrupted.
It is therefore clear that Mandovi, Zuari, Aguada bay as well as Chapora River will be faced with new obstacles to fishing activites. All the plans of Goa’s Port Administrations is destined to adversely affect the fishing carried out by traditional fishermen in Goa.

We request you to make sure that these plans of yours are shelved before implementation due to its impact on fishing activities. Casinos from Mandovi must be moved and their operations stopped inside the anywhere in any of the rivers where fishing is disrupted directly and indirectly. Also Mandovi River, Zuari River as well as Chapora River  must be kept obstacle free for fishing and no impediments for fishing in the form of seaplanes, heli-tourism and amphibious, casinos, Marinas be installed in these rivers in near future.

Bharat Mukti Morcha is strongly objects to the introduction of new off shore casinos in Zuari River as it will directly disrupt fishing activities besides other impacts of casinos that are iniquitous. Fishermen in Zuari does not desire the existence of casinos in their midst at all.

Anticipating your quick action,

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,

       Sd/-
Maggie Silveira
President, Bharat Mukti Morcha,
Goa State


             Sd/-
 Mohammad Saleem
Convener, Bharat Mukti Morcha,
Vasco Unit

          

         Sd/-
Sanjay Pereira
Convener, Bharat Mutkti Morcha,
Cacra unit

          
          Sd/-
Rohidas Andrade
Convener, Bharat Mukti Morcha, Bambolim unit

          
          Sd/-
Soccoro Braganza
Convener, Bharat Mukti Morcha,
Siridao unit

          
          Sd/-        
Anthony Cardozo
Convener, Bharat Mukti Morcha,
Curca Unit

       
         Sd/-
Sitaram Pereira
Convener, Bharat Mukti Morcha,
Odxel Unit

      
        Sd/-
Milind Palkar
Convener, Bharat Mukti Morcha,
Nauxi Unit

      
         Sd/-
Chandrakant Lotlikar
Secretary, Bharat Mukti Morcha,
Siridao Unit

            
          Sd/-    
Deu Kankonkar
Secretary, Bharat Mukti Morcha,
Nauxi Unit

        
             Sd/-
Jeronio D’Souza
Co-convener, Bharat Mukti Morcha, 
Siridao Unit

        
           Sd/-
Custodio D’Souza,
Convener, Bharat Mukti Morcha,
Murmogao Taluka

Tuesday 23 June 2015

Stop Pontoon fraud in Mandovi

Date: 19th June 2015

1.
To,
The Principal Secretary (Environment) & Chairman (GCZMA),
Government of Goa,
Secretariat, Porvorim, Goa
2.
To,
The Commissioner and Secretary (Ports)
Government of Goa,
Secretariat, Porvorim, Goa

3.
To,
The Secretary (Town and Country)
Government of Goa,
Porvorim, Goa
4.
To,
The Collector (North Goa)
Panjim, Goa

5.
To,
The Member-Secretary,
Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA),
Panjim, Goa

6.
To,
The Captain of Ports,
Panjim, Goa

7.
To,
The Chief Town Planner,
Town and Country Planning Department,
Patto, Panjim, Goa

8.
To,
The Deputy Collector & S.D.O (Tiswadi)
Panaji, Goa
9
To,
Chief Engineer,
Water Resources Department,
Panjim, Goa

10
To,
The Principal Conservator of Forest,
Panjim, Goa
11
To,
The Chief Engineer,
Public Works Department,
Panjim, Goa
12
To,
Director of Tourism,
Panjim, Goa
13
To,
The Director,
Directorate of Industries, Trade and Commerce,
Panjim, Goa

14
To,
Dr. Antonio Arsenio Mascarenhas,
Expert Member,
Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority,
Panjim, Goa

Subject: Pontoon fraud in river Mandovi - revoke the NOC/ Approval given

Dear Madam / Sir,
We have already filed our objections dated 15th May 2015 to the permissions granted to M/s Ozone Leisure and Resorts Pvt. Ltd to construct floating pontoon in Mandovi by Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) as well as Captain of Ports Department based on minutes of 113th meeting of GCZMA held on 26th February 2015.
Now we wish to bring to your notice the following discrepancies in the process of granting of these permissions:
1.      On behalf of Ozone Leisure and Resorts Pvt. Ltd on 27th April 2011 Yulette C. Coutinho, manager-legal made a letter to Captain of Ports, Panjim asking for the repairs of an existing Jetty under Survey No. 2/5 at Panelim, Old Goa. Ms Coutinho has put in writing that she was not aware as to when Captain of Ports had issued license to construct the same and Captain of Ports was requested to search for Jetty Registers in the names of Nirmitee Holdays Pvt Ltd., Aishwarya Resorts Pvt. Ltd. and P & P. Hotels Pvt. Ltd. On behalf of Ozone Leisure and Resorts Pvt. Ltd Ms Coutinho, the Authorised signatory expressed the desire to continue to use and operate the existing Jetty. Captain of Ports did not reply to this letter nor Expert member of GCZMA Dr.Antonio Mascarenhas noted existence of such a Jetty in his site inspection report carried out on 10/10/2014.
2.      Nine month and ten days later on February 6th 2012 Bruno Ferrao, Manager- Administration, Ozone Leisure and Resorts Pvt. Ltd again made another application to the Member-Secretary, GCZMA seeking permission for putting up Floating Pontoon in river Mandovi adjacent to plot bearing survey no. 2/5 (Part) situated at Panelim, Old Goa. In this letter again Mr. Ferrao claims that “the said pot had an existing jetty which is presently in a dilapidated condition and hence we intend to put a temporary Floating Pontoon at its place.” Again it must be noted that an Expert member of GCZMA Dr.Antonio Mascarenhas in his report of site inspection on 10/10/2014 neither records existence of any pot nor an existing Jetty in dilapidated conditions at plot bearing survey no. 2/5 at Panelim. In this letter Bruno Ferrao also gave reference to likely siltation and damage to surrounding “The Floating Pontoon will be a temporary structure and will not cause any siltation or damage to the surroundings.” On what basis has Bruno Ferrao claimed that pontoon will not cause siltation or damage the surroundings? What study has he conducted on behalf of Ozone Leisure and Resorts Pvt. Ltd to put up such claims in writing? If Ozone Leisure and Resorts Pvt. Ltd has carried out the studies to this effect then why were they not disclosed? Now it looks Bruno has made such claims without any basis and hence this application of 6/2/2012 is a fraud and all the approvals granted by GCZMA are fraud too. This fraud is confirmed from the Expert Member of GCZMA Dr. Antonio Mascarenhas’ observations recorded in the 113th meeting of the GCZMA held on 26th February 2015 (case no. 7.5, page 32) as “Any structure within river is bound to cause upstream and / or downstream erosion and / or accretion.”
3.      It is hence truthful that there is no existing Jetty in dilapidated condition as claimed by Ozone Leisure and Resorts Pvt. Ltd as this fact has not been confirmed by Captain of Ports nor by member-secretary GCZMA. This is completely fraud.
4.      Based on this fraud correspondence Ozone Leisure and Resorts Pvt. Ltd Vice-President – Business Development Gajanan Karkare on 21st February 2013 wrote to The Principal Secretary (Environment), Government of Goa who is also the Chairman, GCZMA to consider the application of Bruno Ferrao on behalf of the company -and cited above – to provide Ozone Leisure and Resorts Pvt. Ltd the permission / NOC for the proposed construction of the floating Pontoon Jetty in river Mandovi adjacent to Plot No.2/5 at Panelim, Old Goa.
5.      On 20th June 2014 the above mentioned Gajanan Karkare, Vice-President – Business Development, Ozone Leisure and Resorts Pvt. Ltd again wrote to Member-Secretary, GCZMA asking for permission / NOC for the proposed construction of the floating Pontoon jetty in river Mandovi adjacent to Plot survey No.2/5 at Panelim, Old Goa with application dated 6/2/2012 of Bruno Ferrao as the basis.
6.      The effect of this process of fraud Dr.Antonio Mascarenhas, and Expert Member of GCZMA in his inspection report of 10/10/2014 noted that “Such activities need an EIA from competent authorities as stipulated in the CRZ 2001 rules.” This expert observation has been sidetracked and approvals granted by GCZMA as recorded in minutes of its 113th meeting held on 26/02/2015. As we have already mentioned in our last letter we re-assert that this is fraud that will lead to very serious consequences including call for high level investigations.
7.      Bharat Mukti Morcha therefore calls Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) to revoke its approval for floating Pontoon jetty in the area adjacent to plot bearing Survey no.2/5 Panelim village, Old-Goa, Tiswadi Taluka dated 04/03/2015 granted from CRZ point of view vide letter GCZMA/TIS/PANE/11-12/07/2184 granted to Ozone Leisure and Resorts Pvt. Ltd.
8.      Bharat Mukti Morcha calls upon Captain of Ports to revoke the NOC dated 29/01/2013 granted for Construction of floating Pontoon jetty in river Mandovi adjacent to Plot survey No.2/5 at Panelim, Old Goa vide letter No.I-11017/Floating Pontoon/Panalim/476 to Ozone Leisure and Resorts Pvt. Ltd.
9.    Bharat Mukti Morcha considers this approval to M/s Ozone Leisure and Resorts Pvt. Ltd to construct 18 meters long and 10 meters deep floating Pontoon Jetty in Old Goa as fraud as the observation of Expert Member Antonio Mascarenhas to carry on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) under CRZ 2011 rules before construction has been over looked and the transcripts of the “detailed discussion and due deliberations” held during the meeting are not recorded in the minutes of the 113th meeting of GCZMA.
10. Bharat Mukti Morcha calls for detail EIA report as well as Public Hearing on this and approvals granted to Pontoon Jetty construction by GCZMA as well as Captain of Ports must be revoked with immediate effect as it is nothing more than fraud.

Anticipating your quick action,

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,



        Sd/-
Maggie Silveira
President, Goa Unit


          Sd/-
Sanjay Harmalkar
Convener, Diwar Unit



        Sd/- 
Aaron D’mello
Convener,
Ribandar Unit


        
             Sd-
Rohidas Andrade
Convener, Bambolim Unit



          Sd/-
Sanjay Pereira

Convener, Cacra Unit

Wednesday 17 June 2015

Objection to stationing of mobile towers on truck at Bambolim and Nauxim belt at Hotels Grand Hyatt and Aldeia de Goa due to radiation hazards to villagers




Date: 9th June  2015

To,
Minister of Environment and Forest,
Government of Goa,
Secretariat, Porvorim, Goa

To,
The Principal Secretary (Environment)
Government of Goa,
Secretariat, Porvorim, Goa

To,
The Member-Secretary,
Goa State Pollution Control Board
Panajim, Goa

To,
Vishnu Surya Wagh,
Member of Legislative Assembly,
St.Andre Constituency, Tiswadi

To,
The Collector (North Goa),
Panjim, Goa

To,
The Sarpanch,
Curca-Bambolim-Telaulim-Nauxim Panchayat, Tiswadi, Goa


Subject: - Objection to stationing of mobile towers on truck at Bambolim and Nauxim belt at Hotels Grand Hyatt and Aldeia de Goa due to radiation hazards to villagers nearby

Dear Madam/ Sir
We write to you to object stationing of two mobile towers at Bambolim-Nauxim belt at Hotels Grand Hyatt and Aldeia de Goa on trucks. It is a well established fact that mobile towers are a source of nuclear radiation hence we urge your immediate intervention to direct both Hotel Grand Hyatt as well as Hotel Aldeia de Goa to dismantle the said mobile towers immediately as the health of the surrounding villagers are exposed to nuclear radiation.
We understand that local Panchayat of Bambolim refused permission to install these mobile towers on ground and over ruling the Panchayat Hotel Grand Hyatt and Hotel Aldeia de Goa has placed mobile towers on top of trucks. 

Moreover Hotel Grand Hyatt being illegal creating such havoc for the common people is not tolerable any more.

This must be stopped immediately as it is radiation hindrance to the people living in this very area. 
 
Your positive and prompt action is expected at the earliest,

Thanking you,
Yours sincerely,

         Sd/-
Maggie Silveira
President, Bharat Mukti Morcha,
Goa State

         Sd/-
Sanjay Pereira
Convener, Bharat Mutkti Morcha,
Cacra unit

         Sd/-
Rohidas Andrade
Convener, Bharat Mukti Morcha, 
Bambolim unit

         
          Sd/-
Soccoro Braganza
Convener, Bharat Mukti Morcha,
Siridao Unit

        Sd/-
Anthony Cardozo
Convener, Bharat Mukti Morcha,
Curca Unit


         Sd/-
Sitaram Pereira
Convener, Bharat Mukti Morcha,
Odxel Unit


        Sd/-
Milind Palkar
Convener, Bharat Mukti Morcha,
Nauxi unit


          Sd/-
Chandrakant Lotlikar
Secretary, Bharat Mukti Morcha,
Siridao Unit
         

         Sd/-
Deu Kankonkar
Secretary, Bharat Mukti Morcha,
Nauxi Unit


        Sd/-
Jeronio D’Souza,
Secretary, Bharat Mukti Morcha,
Siridao Unit

Friday 5 June 2015

Bharat Mukti Morcha President Maggie Silveira turns down Ozone corporate talk offer

Two operatives claiming to be Ozone corporate operatives today came on the public road outside the home of Maggie Silveira, President, Bharat Mukti Morcha, Goa State on Vanxim Island near Diwar in Goa at 9.15 am. They called out to Maggie from the road. When Maggie came out in the gallery they said that they want to speak to Maggie for two minutes. Then they were asked as to whom they represent. For this they answered "Ozone in Panjim". They were then asked to produce their identity. One of them produced his election identity card that revealed his name as Gokuldas Naik of H.No.43, Capxem, Sanvordem, Goa. Gokuldas also disclosed that he was on the staff in Ozone corporate office in Bangalore. The other person said that he forgot his identity inside the car. Maggie then told them that she is not interested in any talks with Ozone. Gokuldas Naik then told the second person "Come, lets go. If she is not going to talk then there is no need to show your identity card." They then went marching off to their car that was parked at the distance of around 35 meters.

Earlier Ozone corporate Manager - Administration Bruno Ferrao was similarly sent back along with the flower bouquet he came with for Maggie's wedding on January 01, 2014 in Vanxim.


Ozone corporate has filed criminal case through Bruno Ferrao against four women in Vanxin resisting corporate takeover of  Vanxim on 12 November 2011. The case is under trial in magistrate's court in Panjim. Corporate has been drawing up strategies to pressurize the women to surrender their land rights over paddy fields in Vanxim. Maggie Silveira is also included in these four women but she along with her family has refused to surrender. Instead Bharat Mukti Morcha filed objections before Captain of Ports and Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) over proposed construction of floating Pontoon Jetty at Panelim, Old Goa that is allowed with overruling of expert opinion to carry on Environment Impact Assessment (EIA). 


Today morning Ozone corporate sent its representatives to the residence of Maggie Silveira in Vanxim but they were not allowed entry and had to beat hasty retreat. A befitting act on World Environment Day 2015.


Bharat Mukti Morcha calls upon all other communities in Goa to agitate uncompromisingly and resist boldly without any fear of the Corporate.


In the same way today because of the people who were in the upfront at Bambolim they destroyed Bambolim by allowing hotel Grand Hyatt to come up illegally. So let us not allow any corporate body to be illegally growing in Goa when the Sons and Daughters of Goa are fighting for the rights of Goa's mulnivasi freedom. Let us destroy such corporate bodies as the dust particles.

Any attack on Maggie Silveira, Ozone corporate will be held responsible along with Bamon Mahendra Gaunekar and Bharat Mukti Morcha will retaliate accordingly. 

The Pontoon whereby Captain of Ports and Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority have given approvals/ NOCs. Captain of Ports has been renewing the approvals every year for past couple of years. Let there be high level investigation either from CBI or from Vigilance department to get to know how much with fraudulence (fraud) the Captain of Ports and Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority is working.

People of Goa wake up! Let us march to save Goa from this land grabbers and corporate looters. Jai Goa! Jai Mulnivasi! Jai Bhimb! Jai Bharat!