log on to thegoan.net @thegoaneveryday Facebook.com/thegoaneveryday The Goan (Playstore) Instagram.com/thegoaneveryday >P8 SATURDAY FEBRUARY 20, 2021 IN SHORT >> MMC opens bids for biodigetser plants MARGAO: The Margao Municipal Council on Friday finally opened the financial bids for the setting up of the three bio-methanation plants at the SGPDA markets. Urja Bio Systems Pvt Ltd has qualified for the tender for two plants and Atmos Power Pvt Ltd for the third, the Margao Municipal Council informed.  >> See pg 2 Major vaccination drive in State today PANAJI: The Directorate of Health Services has scheduled a massive round of Covid vaccination for healthcare workers registered on the Co-Win portal on Saturday (February 20). The move is in continuation with the extension of the last date of Phase I of the ongoing Covid vaccination drive covering HCWs.  >> See pg 3 WB court summons for Amit Shah WEST BENGAL: A West Bengal court on Friday summoned Home Minister Amit Shah in connection with a defamation case lodged against him by Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee. He has been asked to appear before the court at 10 am on February 22 either in person or through a lawyer. Shah allegedly made defamatory statements against Banerjee at a rally in Kolkata. Three days JC for Disha Ravi NEW DELHI: Climate activist Disha Ravi arrested in the Toolkit case has been sent to jail for three days after she was produced in a court Friday by Delhi Police. Stressing on the possibility of “evidence tampering”, the cops today sought three more days of judicial custody for Ravi. The court has postponed the hearing on Disha’s bail till today (Saturday).  >> See pg 7 No foreign Covid strain: Maha govt MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Health department has issued a statement saying no foreign strain of the virus causing Covid-19 has been found in Amravati and Yavatmal districts of the state so far. The health department said efforts are on to find why cases are increasing in districts like Amravati, Yavatmal, Satara and Pune. Three Lashkar militants killed SRINAGAR: Three militants affiliated with the Lashkar-eTaiba (LeT) were gunned down in an early morning operation on Friday in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district. The officials, however, said that a Jammu and Kashmir policeman was martyred in the operation while another one was injured and is getting treated in a local hospital. Uttarakhand toll rises to 62 NEW DELHI: The death toll in the Chamoli disaster in Uttarakhand rose to 62 on Friday. The identities of 34 bodies have been established. WEATHER >> Max: 32.2 C Min: 22.6 C Humidity: 76% TIDES Low: High: 10:36 22.25 3:12 18.00 8 pages PRICE ` 6 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME VI, NO. 241 VIRAT OPENS UP ON DEPRESSION RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 Turbulence at Mopa as police-locals clash   FARMERS, LOCALS & ACTIVISTS OBJECT TO SURVEY WORK FOR PROPOSED ROAD ACCESS TO AIRPORT PROJECT   ARRESTED & RELEASED   67 PROTESTERS INSIST ON GETTING LAND BACK THE GOAN I NETWORK PERNEM A little over a month after violent clashes erupted between police and locals agitating against the IIT project in Sattari, clashes broke out between locals and police, this time in Pernem on Friday, over survey work for the proposed road access to the Mopa airport project. Police arrested 67 protesters objecting to the survey work and later released them. According to reports, trouble began when a government team had gone to the site to conduct survey work for the proposed road between Dhargal and the Mopa airport project. Anticipating protests from farmers, locals and activists, a huge police force accompanied the survey team. The large number of farmers, locals and activists initially held talks with Pernem Deputy Collector Ravishankar ‘Landowners offered three times more compensation’ Clashes break out between police and protesting farmers, locals and activists at Mopa on Friday and (right) police take them intocustody.  Nivruti Shirodkar Nipanikar. Speaking on the behalf of protesters, Vinayak Chari requested Nipanikar to stop the survey immediately. “We are fighting this in a democratic way. We have sent appeals to the government and even knocked on the doors of the court. We are awaiting justice,” Chari told the deputy collector. Fishing community demands taluka-wise CZMP hearings PANEL TO IDENTIFY COASTAL COMMUNITIES & HOMES THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Goa’s fishing community has objected to the centralized conduct of public hearings on the draft Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) at the district level and instead demanded that these be held at the taluka level. Fishermen’s associations on Friday submitted their demand before the government citing the difficulties faced by their members comprising nearly 30,000 to make it to the two venues fixed for the hearing in North and South Goa amidst the pandemic. The State government has fixed public hearings on the draft CZMP on March 7 at the Taleigao Community Hall in North Goa and the Ravindra Bhavan in South Goa. “Drop the venue and hold taluka level public hearings across Goa at different dates and times,” the memorandum states. „„Fishermen’s associations on Friday submitted their demand before the government „„The associations said nearly 30,000 people from coastal villages will find it difficult to make it to the two venues fixed for the hearings in North and South Goa amidst the pandemic Olencio Simoes of the Goenchea Ramponkarancho Ekvott said that the draft plans for over 50 villages have not been uploaded yet. He also said that the draft CZMP has focused on port limits, aquaculture zones, etc, instead of marking fishing villages, fishing zones and water bodies as mandated by CRZ guidelines. Meanwhile, a five-member Fishery Planning Committee under the Director of Environ- ment has been set up by the government to conduct a survey to identify houses of local coastal communities and fishermen. The committee will carry out the survey in zones between 100 and 200 metres of the high tide line to identify houses. The panel also has the mandate to mark existing fishing infrastructure and also suggest additional infrastructure needs. PANAJI: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Friday claimed landowners have been assured three times more compensation and jobs by the government. He said a major portion of the Mopa airport link road will pass through barren land while some part through cashew nut plantation and agricultural land. The CM said that no houses or any other structures lie in the land earmarked for the road. “The road is decided by a technical team in consultation with Mopa Authority after considering alignment and other parameters,” he added. “Allow us to do the survey. After that if diversion needs to be done at some places,” he urged. Sawant also said he held meetings with villagers of both the protesting villages earlier and assured them of resolving all their grievances. In response, Nipanikar asked the people not to oppose the survey. “The chief minister has already discussed the issue with the farmers. The Mopa-affect- ed locals will be duly compensated and other benefits for the loss of their land.” “The survey is being conducted lawfully and those attempting to disrupt the sur- Shigmo parade only in 3 cities this year Unseasonal rain, hailstorm in Goa vey work will face action,” warned Nipanikar. Upset over the adamant position of the officials, the >Continued on P5 Opposition slam govt for running roughshod on protesting Pernem farmers >> See pg 3 LAST TIME GOA RECEIVED RAINFALL IN FEBRUARY WAS IN 2013 THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The government has decided to hold Shigmotsav parades in Panaji, Mapusa and Ponda in the first week of April. In the meeting held by the Shigmotsav committee, it was decided to hold parades only in three cities due to the Covid pandemic. Earlier such parades used to happen in eight cities. The meeting was chaired by Tourism Minister Babu Ajgaonkar. Tourism Director Minino D’Souza, Panaji Mayor Uday Madkaikar, Traffic SP Arvind Gawas, SP Utkrusht Prasoon and Goa Tourism Development Corporation MD Nikhil Desai were also present at the meeting. The routes of the parades and traffic management were discussed and the dates of the parades have been tentatively fixed -- Panaji (April 3) and Mapusa (April 4) and Ponda will be finalized within the next 2 days. It was first decided to hold >Continued on P5 Scooterists were caught off guard in the unseasonal rain on Friday in Panaji. THE GOAN I NETWORK MAPUSA Many parts of the State witnessed spells of rain and hailstorm on Friday evening even as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecasted isolated thunderstorms for the next 24 hours. “Incidents of hail from Shiroda and Quepem along with thunderstorm events reported on February 19. Doppler radar Goa captured the evolution of clouds,” the IMD Goa said in a tweet. The IMD in its report had predicted thunderstorm with light to moderate rain in parts of Goa. The weather bureau informed that due to the trough line from Kerala coast to Gujarat coast a lot of clouds developed over Goa. “This is a common phenomenon. It has been raining >Continued on P5 Ranchers worry as calves’ ears fall off in biting US cold Goa gets to borrow AGENCIES ARKANSAS n Arkansas, ranchers are fitting pantyhose over the heads of calves in a desperate attempt to keep them warm. In Montana, they’ve been duct-taping calves’ ears to their necks to stop them from falling off. In Oklahoma, newborns arrived onto snow-packed frozen ground and perished while ranchers were reportedly sticking the hardest-hit animals in the front seat of pickup trucks and even inside their homes. Across the American Plains, South and Southwest, the unprecedented cold of this past week has been brutal on millions of residents. For the flora and fauna -- as well as those who make their living cultivating them -- it’s been equally I Calves with their ears duct-taped to their necks in Manhattan, Montana. disastrous, a Darwinian mix of outlandish and gruesome. “It’s survival of the fittest right now,” said Tyler Beaver, a founder of brokerage Beaf Cat- tle Co. in Arkansas. “Lot of hay having to be put out on a daily basis just to keep the cows warm enough to not freeze to death.” Scores of broiler houses, where chickens are raised, were without power. In Mississippi, four broiler houses were destroyed from collapsed roofs overwhelmed by snow and ice. Dale Murden, who raises both citrus and cattle in Harlingen, Texas said, “The whole state from the panhandle to the tip of Texas is just a mess.” Farmers are struggling to get food and water to their herds. Cattleman Clay Burtrum lost two calves Wednesday in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He’d been making the rounds to animals, rolling out bales of hay, replenishing feed and breaking ice in watering stations. With calving season in full swing, he couldn’t keep up. “They were born on the snow, there wasn’t anything that could be done,” he said. Jake Feddes in Manhattan, Montana has been duct-taping the ears of baby calves to their necks. “Their ears will get frostbit and fall off,” Feddes said by phone, adding that they can succumb to hypothermia. Beef packers including Cargill Inc. and Tyson Foods Inc. were forced to shut down meat plants due to energy constraints. Consumers stocking up have also cleared store shelves of food while there are long lines at fuel stations. The weather woes, in addition to killing some young animals, will slow the rate of weight gains in cattle as they use energy to stay warm. Lighter animals will mean smaller supplies later this year, a time when consumers already were expected to be paying higher prices for meat due to soaring animal feed prices. more for power THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI An additional Rs 44 crore cushion by way of raising debt is available to the State government, which is facing a fiscal bloodbath due to the pandemic, owing to the success of its initiative to reduce power losses. The Central power ministry had set State targets to close the gap of aggregate technical losses in the power distribution and sale to below 13.53 percent. Goa has brought it down to 11.21 per-cent. Meeting this target has therefore made Goa eligible to borrow an additional Rs 44 crore, which is approximately 0.01 per cent of the State’s PERFORMANCE INCENTIVE The Central power ministry had set State targets to close the gap of aggregate technical losses in the power distribution and sale to below 13.53 percent. Goa has brought it down to 11.21 per-cent. gross domestic product. Apart from Goa, four more states have earned this distinction -- Bihar, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand.