log on to thegoan.net @thegoanonline TUESDAY JULY 9, 2024 GOA Facebook.com/thegoan The Goan E-Paper (Playstore/IOS) 13 pages PRICE ` 10 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME X, NO. 22 Seepage of rainwater in underground sewage line haunts Madgavkars again 2 GOA HC quashes CCP’s demand for a refund of allowance paid to employee 5 Instagram.com/thegoanonline RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 INFO Home remedies for white facial hair 10 SPORTS Sri Lanka appoints Jayasuriya as interim coach 12 WALLS CRUMBLE, LIVES FALL APART Woman, son dead in wall collapse at Mandur Retaining walls give THE GOAN I NETWORK IN SHORT >> 5 armymen killed in terror attack JAMMU: Five army personnel, including a Junior Commissioned Officer, were killed and as many were injured on Monday when heavily armed terrorists ambushed a patrolling party in the remote Machedi area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district, officials said. The terror attack, the fifth in Jammu region in a month, evoked widespread condemnation with political leaders including three former chief ministers expressing concern over the growing incidents of terrorism in the area, especially in the Jammu region where militancy has returned after being wiped out over two decades ago.  >> See pg 7 Date for feedback on Tourism Bill extended PANAJI: The Goa government has extended the deadline for the public to submit feedback, objections, and suggestions on the draft ‘Goa Tourism Promotion, Management and Regulation (GTPMR) Bill, 2024’ by 15 days. The original deadline of July 6 has now been moved to July 21. Assagao demolition: Pre-bail order on Wed PANAJI: The Crime Branch raised questions about Pooja Sharma’s denial in the Assagao house demolition asking why she assured to help the Agarwadekar family in reconstructing the house. The judge has posted the anticipatory bail order for Wednesday.  >> See pg 2 House gutted in fire at Aldona MAPUSA: A house in near Teen Mansher in Coimawaddo-Aldona was gutted in a fire on Monday noon. Fire broke out in the house of Kavita Lingudkar and the family tried to douse the flames with the help of neighbours. WEATHER >> Max: 27 C Min: 25.1 C Humidity: 91% TIDES Low: High: 05.55 13.08 18.57 23.59 ON PAGE 3 OLD GOA An elderly woman and her son died after a partition wall of their house collapsed on them on Monday afternoon. According to information, the mud wall collapsed at around 3.15 pm and both the mother Maria Rodrigues (70) and son Alfred Rodrigues (51) were buried under the rubble. ON PAGE 5 Could tragedy have been averted? MLA decries delay in disbursing fund Family shifted to neighbour’s house Neighbours immediately rushed to the site and attempted to rescue the two. Among those who responded first included Ankush Chari, Prashant Chari, Nilkhant (Ulhas) Zalmi, panch Nandesh Mayekar, Savio Fernandes and Kashinath Naik. They removed the mud with their bare hands and were able to first remove Alfred from the rubble, who was immediately shifted to The rubble of the collapsed partition wall, under which the mother and son were trapped.  Manuel Vaz the Mandur Rural Health and Training Centre. Local panch Tejasvi Naik was then informed about the incident who later intimated the fire brigade. The Old Goa fire personnel arrived at the spot and along with the locals then removed the mother Maria from the rubble, with one of them attempting to resuscitate through CPR. Later, she was shifted to the Mandur RHTC in a police vehicle as the 108 ambulance did not arrive. Sadly though, both the mother and son were declared dead on arrival by the doctors at the RHTC. As fate would have it, Alfred had lost his wife only six months back. Revealing more details about the incident, sources informed that the deceased Alfred called his brother Si- Mhadei team meets, no talks on Tribunal award violation MEMBERS DEBATE DPR OF VIRDI PROJECT THE GOAN I NETWORK BELAGAVI After visiting the disputed Kalsa-Bhandura water diversion project areas bordering Goa and Kankumbi on Sunday, a meeting of the Progressive River Authority for Water and Harmony (PRAWAH) was held in Bengaluru Monday afternoon. According to sources, there was no agenda to discuss the reported violation of award as alleged by authorities in Goa. A top source in the Karnataka government said, “No discussion about the alleged violation of the award pronounced by Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal (MWDT) was there on the agenda of the PRAWAH meeting.” The Bengaluru meeting also held a discussion of the DPR of Virdi large and minor irrigation project of Maharashtra government. Sources said the Karnataka officers were of the view that the project should not be considered by the Centre until the Maharashtra govern- The PRAWAH team during its inspection near Kalsa site near Kankumbi. ON PAGE 5 PRAWAH team visits Kalsa-Bhandura project in Kankumbi Karnataka activists block KTC bus at Belagavi, demand resumption of Kalsa project ment acquired all the needed permissions from the Central government to go ahead with the project. The members of PRAWAH also discussed several issues with regard to the Mhadei water sharing project at the meeting. “The Karnataka government has adhered to all orders and directions of the court and MWDT and hence the question of any kind of illegal works or diversion of water taking place at the project site would not arise,” sources in Karnataka government claimed. >Continued on P7 Just one day of rain and Guirim goes under water Renovated Kala Academy now waterlogged Mud used for landfilling gushes into houses in Curca Water recedes but Bardez continues to grapple with aftermath Ponda-Dabal road flooded, traffic disrupted way as heavy rains lash Curti, Dhargal The retaining wall which collapsed at Dhargal-Pernem. THE GOAN I NETWORK PONDA A retaining wall erected during the widening of the Bagal road in Mhalshi-Curti collapsed on Monday morning due to heavy rain. A large amount of mud and stones from the widened road flowed into the plantations of many farmers and damaged them. Angry farmers are preparing to file a police complaint against the contractor. Incidentally, the retaining wall which collapsed on Monday was constructed only a few months ago. Meanwhile, another part of the retaining wall erected by the contractor is on the verge of collapse. AT DHARGAL TOO In another incident, a protection wall along the NH66 highway collapsed at Mahakhajan-Dhargal for the second time within a fortnight. The incident occurred during a period of sparse traffic, narrowly averting a major tragedy. However, authorities had to close one side of the highway to facilitate debris removal efforts. mon and informed him that portions of the partition wall are coming down and urged him to come for help. Simon, a bus driver, immediately rushed home but before he could reach home the wall had collapsed and his mother and brother buried under the rubble. Simon, too, joined the rescue operation along with the neighbours and one among them informed The Goan that the deceased Alfred in fact called out his brother Simon to help him. However, as fate would have it, Alfred could not be saved as also the mother, Maria. Meanwhile, as news about the incident spread in the village and surrounding areas, St Andre MLA Viresh Borkar, former MLA Francisco SC: If sanctity of NEET exam lost, re-test is must Sawant junks rumours of possible Cabinet reshuffle 1 Observing that the sanctity of the NEET-UG 2024 has been “breached”, the Supreme Court on Monday said a re-test may be ordered if the entirety of the process is affected and sought details from the National Testing Agency and the CBI including the timing and manner of the paper leak, besides the numbers of wrongdoers, to know the extent of its effect. “Let us not be in selfdenial. Self-denial is only adding to the problem,” a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud told the Centre and the NTA, which conducts the prestigious test, in a string of strongly-worded observations. “One thing which is very clear is that the leak has taken place. That the sanctity of the exam has been breached is beyond doubt. 2 3 >> See pg 7 >Continued on P7 >Continued on P7 SAYS FOCUS IS ONLY ON ASSEMBLY SESSION THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has once again dismissed speculation of a Cabinet reshuffle as he held a crucial meeting with ministers and MLAs, fuelling rumours of a possible reshuffle ahead of the legislative Assembly session. “Now only the Assembly session is the focus. There’s no Cabinet reshuffle,” he replied to media questions about the possibility of a reshuffle. The meeting’s agenda included legislative matters, he added, although, in a rare instance, the MLAs were also present in the meeting held at Porvorim on Monday. It was seen that amidst the meeting, Ministers Govind Gaude and Nilkanth Halarnkar left the discussion midway, further intensifying speculation. Former minister Nilesh Cabral, among other attendees, stated he would accept any responsibility given by the party. ST R A I G H T TA L K „„Minister for Environment Aleixo Sequeira stated that his induction in the Cabinet was CM’s decision… if CM doesn’t want me, I am ready to go, I never asked for a Cabinet rank “Even if it is the CM position, I will take it. Tomorrow if I am given any responsibility, I won’t hesitate,” he said. Rumours indicate that Cabral might be appointed as Speaker replacing current Ramesh Tawadkar who will get a cabinet berth. At least four new inductions are on cards even as the CM is tightlipped on any such changes.  Sources revealed to The Goan that Minister for Environment Aleixo Sequeira might face the axe while exCM Digambar Kamat’s induction is also not ruled out. „„Former minister Nilesh Cabral said he would accept any responsibility given by the party... even if it is the CM position, I will take it, I will not hesitate to accept any responsibility “The party high command is upset with the minister after the defeat in South Goa Lok Sabha polls. There are moves to replace him with a new minister,” sources said. Sequeira however stated that his induction in the cabinet was CM Sawant’s decision. “If CM doesn’t want me, I am ready to go. I never asked for a cabinet rank. CM had offered it and now it will be his decision again,” he said.  Meanwhile, Sawant stated he held a review of the issues scheduled to be taken up during the assembly session. Uniform buyer-builder agreement Rain gain: Dams surpass 100 per cent capacity need of the hour, says apex court BOUNTIFUL THE GOAN I NETWORK CITES CASES OF HOME BUYERS BEING DEFRAUDED PTI NEW DELHI Homebuyers in the country are being defrauded, necessitating the need to bring uniformity in builder-buyer agreements, the Supreme Court observed on Monday. “Buyers are being defrauded by builders all across and that is why the need for uniformity now,” a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra said. The top court was hearing a PIL filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay in 2021, saying a model agreement was required to ensure transparency and fairness and to restrain builders and agents from indulging in unfair and restrictive trade practices. Senior advocate Devashish Bharuka, assisting the bench as an amicus curiae, told the bench that a final status report along with draft builder-buyer agreements had been placed on record. It was also submitted that suggestions of states had been received and incorporated. The bench said it would peruse the report of the amicus curiae and the objections to it. Earlier, the bench had allowed the stakeholders, including industry associations, to furnish their suggestions on these model agreements to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. MAPUSA hile the recent heavy downpour has caused significant inconvenience to residents across Goa, it has also resulted in a positive development: three of the State’s dams have reached and surpassed the 100 percent capacity mark, overflowing due to the intense rainfall. The torrential rains on Sunday and overnight have caused the Selaulim, Gaunem, and Panchwadi dams to overflow. The Selaulim dam, crucial for supplying drinking water to the majority of South Goa, has recorded a water level of 104 percent, overflowing sig- MONSOON W „„Selaulim dam records water level of 104% „„Gaunem dam has also reached full capacity, with the water level touching 100% „„Panchwadi dam surpasses capacity with a water level of 102% nificantly early in the monsoon season. Gaunem dam has also reached full capacity, with the water level touching 100 percent. Meanwhile, the Panchwadi dam, which serves the water needs of Shiroda and Panchwadi, has surpassed its capacity with a water level of 102 percent. The Anjunem dam, which provides water to Sattari and parts of Bicholim, is currently at 57 percent capacity, reflecting a significant increase. The remaining three dams, Chapoli, Amthane, and Tillari reservoirs, have recorded water levels of 77 percent, 67 percent, and 61 percent respectively, showcasing a steady rise in their water levels. The Water Resources Department (WRD) Minister, Subhash Shirodkar emphasised that the heavy rainfall had resulted in overflowing of Selaulim dam very early this year. “Normally, we expect the dams to overflow by the end of July. But this time, because of heavy rains, Selaulim dam was overflowing from Sunday night itself. It shows we received very heavy rain in just a day,” Shirodkar stated. >Continued on P7