Goa Blog |
| North Goa collector feels Bicholim’s mining heat Posted: 06 Dec 2010 06:55 PM PST Collector of North Goa Mihir Vardhan, along with Pali MLA Pratap Gawas and government officials, visited Surla and other mining areas in Bicholim taluka to see for himself the problems faced by the locals due to the mining transportation.
The collector has fixed a meeting at Panaji in his chamber on December 7, to discuss the problems and find a solution. Villagers from Pali constituency have lodged several complaints regarding the hardships faced by them due to the plying of mining trucks for the last several years. The affected villagers had even blocked the road in Surla and surrounding areas on several occasions. Deputy collector Narayan Gad had imposed several restrictions on mining trucks in connection with the complaints filed by the affected people of the area. Accordingly, mining vehicles were directed not to ply before and after class hours to avoid inconveniencing and endangering the lives of school children. However, these restrictions could not control the air and noise pollution. The life of common people had become unbearable due to the large number of mining vehicles plying on the road. The public transport system was also badly affected due to the alleged rash and negligent driving by mining vehicles. According to MLA Gawas, “For the last two decades we are affected by mining transportation but during the last five years increasing number of vehicles have added to the problem. Lack of discipline and increasing number of mining vehicles are responsible for increasing accidents on these roads.” The collector and the MLA were caught up in a traffic jam as their vehicles were held up in the middle of mining trucks. Gawas said, “The existing roads in the mining belt were built long ago. They are narrow and overburdened and need to be broadened and maintained from time to time.” Vidya Satardekar from Surla said, “Many of our generation became victims of air and noise pollution generated by the ore carrying vehicles. Life in these areas is affected by pollution. We have to live, eat and drink with dust which is now suffocating. Either mining transportation should be stopped or we should be rehabilitated.” The villagers also brought to the notice of the collector the need to undertake the construction of an alternative road, meant for mining vehicles, from Kothambi to Amona junction on a priority basis. Courtesy:TOI |
| Goa Figures at 18 in India’s most competitive cities Posted: 06 Dec 2010 09:42 AM PST The national capital was the most competitive city to do business in the country in 2010, as per a new report, which based its findings on the metropolitan’s infrastructure and business environment. According to the City Competitiveness report released today by the Institute for Competitiveness (IFC), Delhi is the the most competitive out of the nation’s 50 cities. “Its position is augmented by its surrounding hinterland forming the National Capital Region (NCR) and an improved physical infrastructure and an enabling business environment,” the report noted. Chennai cornered the second position in the list ahead of Mumbai , which dropped to third place from second position last year. Chennai’s ranking improved on the back of good performance under all the sub-indices used to benchmark the cities, particularly its educated workforce and logistics infrastructure, while Mumbai’s fall was primarily due to the worsening state of its physical infrastructure. Bengaluru is at fourth place in the list, followed by Kolkata, Hyderabad , Ahmedabad, Pune, Nagpur and Jaipur. The report is based on factors like demand conditions, a context for firm strategy and rivalry; and support and related industries. A city would need to improve in terms of all these factors to increase its competitiveness. “Based on the findings this year, it is clear that Indian cities are yet to develop a clear vision of their future and identify a definite competitive edge. “Policy makers, too, are struggling with ways of managing infrastructural and developmental challenges that plague even the most competitive Indian cities. It is more important than ever for Indian cities to put into place the fundamentals underpinning economic growth and development in order to propel overall growth for the country as a whole,” Institute for Competitiveness Honorary Chairman Amit Kapoor said. Interestingly, Ahmedabad and Pune have emerged as the most competitive tier-two cities in India. While Ahmedabad performs very well in the administrative sub-index — indicating good governance, municipal efficiency and low crime rates — Pune excels in terms of its physical infrastructure and high quality workforce. Among the other cities features in the list are Chandigarh (11th), Surat (12th), Gurgaon (13th), Indore (14th), Coimbatore (15th), Kochi (16th), Noida (17th), Goa (18th), Shimla (19th) and Kanpur (20th). Courtesy:ET |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Goa Blog To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment