log on to thegoan.net @thegoaneveryday WEDNESDAY MARCH 1, 2023 GOA 13 pages Decomposed body of infant found in field at Mapusa MAPUSA: The decomposed body of an infant was found in the fields at Morrod, Mapusa on Tuesday, Mapusa Police informed. Officials of the Mapusa fire brigade stumbled on the body while attending to a fire call to dry grass in the field. A senior police officer informed that the child belonging to a migrant family was not keeping well for some time and finally passed away some days ago. The family then conducted their rituals and buried the child in the field. Drug case: No court relief for Australian PANAJI: An Australian who challenged a chargesheet filed by the Anti-Narcotics Cell against him citing endless wait for Chemical Analysis report, has failed to secure bail by a fast track court. On November 5, 2021, David Stanley Imich was arrested from Pernem for allegedly possessing MDMA and charas.  >> See pg 3 Online betting at Anjuna busted The Goan (Playstore) PRICE ` 8 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME VIII, NO.252 GOA Mapusa municipal council says ‘no’ to resolution on Mhadei Body parts you often forget to exfoliate VASCO: Four two-wheelers were gutted while two others were damaged in a suspected arson at New Vaddem in Vasco in the wee hours of Tuesday. Ward Councillor Sudesh Bhosle said locals have suspected foul play in the incident. WEATHER >> Max: Min: Humidity: TIDES 35 C 21 C 72% Low: 11.55 00.35 High: 04.10 19.57 SPORTS Australia eyes redemption against India in 3rd Test GSIC’s LANDMARK JUDGMENT ON APPLICABILITY OF RTI ACT TO IMPACT MAZANIAS, CO-OP SOCIETIES AND PRIVATE UNAIDED SCHOOLS IN STATE THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI In an important decision on applicability of Right to Information (RTI) Act to Comunidade bodies, the Goa State Information Commission (GSIC) has held that private bodies like Comunidades are “third parties” and have to be given an opportunity of being heard before deciding on furnishing their records under RTI Act. The landmark judgment could impact similarly placed private bodies like Mazanias, co-operative societies and private unaided schools in Goa, whose records are accessible to public authorities under the RTI Act. Allowing a bunch of appeals filed by the Comunidade of Margao, the State Chief Information Commissioner Vishwas Satarkar opined that K E Y O B SE R VAT I O N S O F PA N E L „„Comunidade entitled to a notice under Section 11 and can claim exemption under Section 8 of RTI Act to deny information „„Whenever a PIO is required to disclose information that relates to or has been treated as confidential by a third party, written notice must be given to the third party within five days of receiving the request „„Third party must then be given an opportunity to make representations against the proposed disclosure within 10 days „„PIO must evaluate whether the information given by the third party has been treated as confidential, and whether any public interest would be served by the disclosure, as well as the possible harm or injury to the interest of the third party the Comunidade was entitled to a notice under Section 11 and could claim exemption under Section 8 of RTI Act to deny the information. The GSIC held that whenever a Public Information Officer (PIO) was required to disclose information that relates to or has been treated as confidential by a third party, written notice must be given to the third party within five days of receiving the request. The third party must then be given an opportunity to make representations against the proposed disclosure with- in 10 days. The PIO must evaluate whether the information given by the third party has been treated as confidential, and whether any public interest would be served by the disclosure, as well as the possible harm or injury to the interest of the third party. Accused in court theft case granted bail after 26 days THE GOAN I NETWORK Two runaway kids rescued by jawans Four bikes gutted at New Vaddem RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 INFO PANAJI: The Crime Branch busted an online cricket betting racket and arrested four habitual cricket betting bookies, who organized illicit gaming for the Pakistan Super League from Goa. The villa in Anjuna was used as a den to operate the illegal activity. All the accused are residents of North West Delhi. PANAJI: Two runaway children were rescued by Railway Protection Force of Konkan Railway from Margao. A 12-year-old boy from Vasco was rescued and admitted to Apana Ghar, Merces while the other 14-year-old boy from Ponda was handed over to Ponda police as a missing complaint was registered there. Instagram.com/thegoaneveryday 3 2 9 Comunidades entitled to ‘third party’ status: Info Commission MMC prefers to seek help from Minister to register BS4 trucks IN SHORT >> Facebook.com/thegoaneveryday The Gateway of India illuminated during Light and Sound show to commemorate the Amrit Mahotsav of India’s independence in Mumbai on Tuesday. 6 new projects get IPB nod, over 2K jobs up for grabs THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Goa government has taken a step further to upgrade the Manohar International Airport by approving a theme park project at the Investment Promotion Board (IPB) meeting held on Tuesday. The meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant approved six projects with a total proposed investment of Rs 310 crore expected to generate 2450 jobs in the State. One of the leading Punebased property developers Bramhacorp has been granted the nod for a Theme Park near Mopa Airport. The GMR Group had proposed to upgrade the facility by creating Aerocity and Amusement Park after the new airport at Mopa commenced operations last month. GMR President and CEO Ranganathan Venkata Sheshan had just recently stated that Goa being a tourist destination, they want to build an Aerocity with the >Continued on P5 PANAJI A criminal lawyer, held in a Court theft case, has been granted conditional bail by the Panaji Additional Sessions Court, 26 days after his arrest. Mujahidin Shaikh is accused of decamping with the muddemal properties from the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) building at Altinho on the night of January 31. The case came as a rude shock as the theft exposed loopholes in the security system in and around the highly protected campus. During the bail hearing, the 31-year-old, represented by Advocate K Poulekar argued that Shaikh’s custody till date was sufficient to thoroughly investigate the crime. “A person is deemed innocent until proven guilty. He is yet to be charged, tried and held guilty. At this stage his further incarnation in jail would be punishing him at the pre-trial stage”, he said. Additional Sessions Judge Cholu Gauns, in his order, observed that prosecution has already found the motive behind the crime being wrongful gain and the accused was in 15 days police custody. “These 15 days were sufficient for the Investigating Officer to find out the motive behind the crime,” he said while allowing the bail application. Adv S Correia, appearing for the Comunidade, vehemently argued that the Administrator of Comunidade South Zone ought to have issued notice to the appellant under Section 11 of the Act. He argued that refusal to give opportunity to the third party is as good as depriving a legal right to voice an objection before disclosing sensitive and confidential information. Echoing the opinion of several High Courts, the GSIC ruled that private bodies whose records are accessible to public authorities under any other law in force are “third parties” and the statutory procedure must be followed before deciding on the requests for information. “In the present case, the APIO of the Administrator >Continued on P5 13 ADEI withdraws missive to faculty, students on Mhadei after protest THE GOAN I NETWORK MAPUSA Following strong protest from a delegation of Save Goa, Save Mhadei Front, the Assistant District Educational Inspector (ADEI) Kiran Chowkikar on Tuesday withdrew a missive issued to teachers/headmasters in Bardez, asking them to refrain from participating in any programmes/competitions on Mhadei. The delegation confronted the ADEI in his Mapusa office and questioned his intention in issuing such a diktat to teachers and students who feel strongly about the issue. Prajal Sakhardande, Hridaynath Shirodkar, Mahesh Mhambare, Aman Lotlikar, Rajan Ghate, Jitesh Kamat, Shashank Narvekar and others were part of the delegation. The ADEI in a message through WhatsApp had prohibited the faculty and students of the schools from participating in Mhadei-related activities such as meetings, programmes or competitions. They were also prohibited The ADEI in a message through WhatsApp had prohibited the faculty and students of the schools from participating in Mhadeirelated activities such as meetings, programmes or competitions. They were also prohibited to organise any programmes related to Mhadei to organise any programmes related to Mhadei. Chowkikar informed the delegation that he had not issued the direction under any pressure. The delegation then warned the ADEI to immediately withdraw the directive. Chowkikar later relented and withdrew the missive issued to faculty and students of schools in Bardez. It may be recalled, Goa Forward Party had warned government officials specially ADEI Bardez not to sabotage events related to Mhadei by issuing diktats. Goa will now get alerts on tsunamis, cyclones  EWDS TOWER INSTALLED AT AGONDA  THREE MORE TOWERS ALSO BEING SET UP IN THE AREA THE GOAN I NETWORK CANACONA The Early Warning Dissemination System (EWDS) tower at Agonda beach has been completed and three similar towers are being installed at the Rajbhag-Tarir, Talpona-Galgibaga and Polem coast. Work to erect the EWDS tower had begun last year but it got delayed after seawater gushed into the pit excavated to lay the foundation near the Lifeguard Tower at Agonda beach. The team had even constructed a makeshift road on one side of the beach to transport the material and the tower was finally completed a few days ago, sources told The Goan. Sources said the Goa Coastal Zone Management (GCZMA) as part of the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project (NCRMP) had granted approval to the Water Resources Department (WRD) to erect 38 automatic EWDS towers in CRZ areas covering 104 kms of coastline at 18 beaches in the six talukas of Tiswadi, Pernem, Bardez, Mormugao, Canacona and Salcete, with The EWDS tower at Agonda beach.  Kathy Fernandes each of tower having a height ranging from 10 mtrs to 15 mtrs. The EWDS, also known as Cyclone Siren System, is a first-of-its-kind automatic public address system in the country and is being implemented under the funding of World Bank in the coastal States. Sources said the EWDS comprises certain devices with inbuilt digital mobile radio (DMR), satellite-based mobile data voice terminals (SBMDVT), mass messaging system (MMS) and universal communication interface (UCI) which help in inter-operability among different communication technologies. “Whenever there is a slightest hint of a tsunami or cyclone or any other natural calamity, the Control Room maintained by WRD can send a warning to the entire state just by the press of a button,” added the source. “Loud sirens will go off at the same time at the Tower and the sound can be heard in localities to a radius of 1.5 km. With this pre-warning, the EWDS can help the people to move to safer places.” Once commissioned, the towers will warn people about an impending disaster and also alert coastal communities/residents and fishermen about any impending natural disasters such as floods, cyclone or tsunami through the tower siren. Besides, loud sirens messages on mobile phones will go off simultaneously from the high towers, sources said. Taxi counter for locals at Mopa Goa lost 15.2 ha land due to coastal erosion: Study GOA’S FIGURES AS PER REPORT Airport stops Ops within hour THE GOAN I NETWORK THE GOAN I NETWORK PERNEM The taxi counter began abruptly for local taxi operators at Mopa Airport on Tuesday and then suddenly stopped operating within an hour of its inauguration. The incident even took the taxi operators in Pernem by surprise and members of the taxi association along with their leader Sudip Tamhankar and Rupesh Krumralkar, Raju Narse met up with the Pernem Road Transport Officer Kamalakant Karapurkar to inquire about the incident. Karapurkar explained that the counter was not opened officially, but he was called by Karapurkar explained to the taxi operators that the spot where it was opened has not been notified yet the Panchayat and Mopa Airport officials to open the counter. Karapurkar explained to the taxi operators that the spot where it was opened has not been notified yet. Speaking to reporters, Tamhankar said the entire exercise of opening the counter and then closing in suddenly was a mystery. “The counter was inaugurated and closed soon after the photos of its inauguration went viral. The traffic officers did not have any intimation from the government regarding opening of the counter. The traffic officer went there because he was called by the company,” said Tamhankar. “The blue taxi counter process is underway and it will be notified soon. Once it is notified, the taxi operators in Pernem will get their taxi counter. There are three taxi associations in Pernem and all three should be taken into confidence while allotting them the taxi counter, and no injustice should be done towards the taxi operators.” Tamhankar also informed that a petition he has filed in the court would be heard on Wednesday. PANAJI n a wakeup call for the State, a research report produced by ISRO’s Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad has revealed that Goa lost around 15.2 hectares of land due to coastal erosion in the course of 10 years. Data available between 2004-06 and 2014-16 reveals that around 28.8 hectare land was lost due to coastal erosion in Goa while 13.6 hectare land was gained through accretion. The effective land loss for Goa stands at 15.2 hectares. Accretion is the process of coastal sediment returning to the visible portion of a beach or foreshore after a submersion event. The research to be pub- I EROSION LENGTH............21.7 km ACCRETION LENGTH............ 7.1 km STABLE LENGTH.............116.7 Km TOTAL LENGTH............... 145.6 km EROSION AREA.........28.8 hectare ACCRETION AREA......13.6 hectare NET LOSS..................15.2 hectare lished soon in the peer-reviewed journal Current Science states that India lost over 3,680 hectares of land due to coastal erosion in the course of 10 years with West Bengal and Gujarat bearing the maximum brunt The world’s shorelines are constantly changing due to natural processes such as coastal erosion and accretion, as well as human activities that affect sediment transport. Coastal erosion means acres of land are disappearing. This can lead to a habitat reduction for local fauna and flora, and make people living in coastal areas vulnerable -- their land disappears, and they are closer to the sea. Accretion is the process of coastal sediment returning to the visible portion of a beach or foreshore after a submersion event. A sustainable beach or foreshore often goes through a cycle of submersion during rough weather and accretion during calmer periods. Accretion can be beneficial in some cases, as there is an increase in the land area. But it can harm marine life — like sea creatures suddenly finding their waters getting shallower, or turtle habitats moving away from the shoreline. According to the research team’s estimates, India gained 4,042 hectares of coastal area between 2004-06 and 201416. Although there is a net gain in the total coastal area (due to settlement of sediment/sand), the stretch under erosion is greater than the accreting shoreline. According to a 2020 European study, the world is set to lose half of its sandy beaches by the end of the century due to coastal erosion driven by rising sea levels. The team found that the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have the longest eroding coastline (231 km) and the longest accreting shoreline (256 km). Erosion is lowest in Lakshadweep Islands (12 km), and the lowest length of the accreting shoreline is in Goa (7 km). The percentage of stable shoreline is highest for Gujarat (87 per cent), followed by Lakshadweep (82 per cent). The figure is 80 per cent for >Continued on P5