log on to thegoan.net @thegoanonline THURSDAY JANUARY 30, 2025 Facebook.com/thegoan The Goan E-Paper (Playstore/IOS) 13 pages PRICE ` 10 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME X, NO. 222 Instagram.com/thegoanonline PG13 Steve Smith enters 10,000run club in Sri Lanka RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 Tragedy strikes Maha Kumbh mela, 30 killed in stampede QR-coded ID cards, police checks for shack staff soon BARRICADES BREAK AS DEVOTEES JOSTLE FOR HOLY DIP HIGH LEVEL MEETING TODAY NUMBER OF BEACH BEDS TO BE RESTRICTED UNIFORM RATES FOR WATER SPORTS ON CARDS PTI THE GOAN I NETWORK PRAYAGRAJ At least 30 people were killed and 60 injured in a pre-dawn stampede at the Sangam area of the Maha Kumbh early Wednesday as millions of pilgrims jostled for space to take a holy dip on the occasion of one of the most auspicious days of Mauni Amavasya. Several hours after the incident took place between 1-2 am, Maha Kumbh DIG Vaibhav Krishna gave the details of the casualties at a press conference here in the evening. “The incident took place due to the pressure of the crowd. The crowd broke barricades and jumped to the other side, crushing those waiting there. Over 90 injured were rushed to the hospital, of whom 30 died,” he said. The officer said 25 of the deceased have been identified. Four of them are from Karnataka and one each from Assam >> See PG 3 GSUDA’s delayed projects: Stark reminder of missed deadlines, public discontent IN SHORT >> 9 Indians killed in Saudi road mishap NEW DELHI: Nine Indian were killed in a road accident near Jizan in Saudi Arabia, the Indian mission in Jeddah said. The mission said it is providing full support and is in touch with the authorities and families. Old Mandovi bridge to be shut for traffic PANAJI: Amid traffic diversion owing to ongoing works of the Porvorim elevated corridor, the govt announced the closure of Old Mandovi Bridge for all traffic from February 8 to February 23.  >> See pg 3 HOW IT HAPPENED Clothes, slippers and other items belonging to devotees strewn around the stampede site at Maha Kumbh on Wednesday. and Gujarat. Among those injured, 36 are undergoing treatment and the rest have been sent with their families. Over seven and half crore devotees took a dip Wednesday, officials said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences to the devotees who lost their family members in the stampede, describing the tragedy NEW DELHI In a significant verdict, the Supreme Court on Wednesday held domicile-based reservation in post graduate medical courses by a state was unconstitutional. A three-judge bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy, Sudhanshu Dhulia and S V N Bhatti said if such a reservation was permitted, it would be an invasion of the fundamental rights of several students. “We are all domiciled in the territory of India. We are all residents of India. Our common bond as citizens and residents of one country gives us the right not only to choose bottom of the whole episode on how such a tragedy occurred,” a visibly-emotional Adityanath said, adding that the chief secretary and DGP would visit the Maha Kumbh on Thursday for an in-depth probe into the tragic incident. DIG Krishna said barricades have been placed in the mela and akhara areas for lane management but they gave Amthane dam water released, but Bardez continues to thirst PWD SAYS NORMAL SUPPLY TO TAKE 2 MORE DAYS THE GOAN I NETWORK MAPUSA Even after authorities managed to open the tricky gate of Amthane dam and restore raw water supply to the Assonora treatment plant, frustration among the locals continued to mount as drinking water supply was yet to normalise in several parts of Bardez even on the fifth day of the crisis. Several areas in Bardez remained dry, with residents struggling to meet their daily water needs. The crisis, triggered by a breach in the Tillari canal, left almost all of Mapusa without water for four days, forcing people to depend on water tankers. Those living in tail-end areas of the PWD pipeline, including Porvorim, Siolim and Saligao, suffered the most, while low-lying areas like Tivim, Aldona and Calangute continued receiving water. SC: No domicile quota for PG medical courses PTI as “extremely saddening”. Later in the night, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced a 3-member judicial commission, comprising Justice Harsh Kumar, former DG VK Gupta and retd IAS VK Singh to look into the reasons. He also announced an ex gratia of Rs 25 lakh each for the kin of the deceased. “It is important to get to the our residence anywhere in India but also gives us the right to carry on trade and business or a profession anywhere in India,” the bench said. It went on, “It also gives us the right to seek admission in educational institutions across India. The benefit of ''reservation'' in educational institutions including medical colleges to those who reside in a particular state can be given to a certain degree only in MBBS courses.” SC held that considering the importance of specialist doctors in PG medical course reservation on the basis of “residence” would be violative of Article 14 of the Constitution. Sawant orders probe into lapses in releasing Amthane Dam water PANAJI: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday ordered an inquiry into major lapses by the Water Resources Department (WRD) in failing to release water from the Amthane dam on time. Speaking to media persons, Sawant said that strict action would be initiated against the concerned engineer for delay in releasing the water and for failing to maintain the dam, whose gates were found jammed, unexpectedly when the need to tap the water from an alternate source arose. The department tried to open the gate for release of water to the Assanora plant.  >> See pg 5 In a desperate effort, engineers from the Water Resources Department, assisted by Navy divers, finally managed to open the jammed Amthane dam gate early Wednesday. This allowed raw water to flow to the Assonora treatment plant, restoring a steady supply by the afternoon. However, PWD officials were quick to temper expectations, stating that full normalcy would take at least two more days. “Water supply from the treatment plant is steady, but we cannot distribute it to all areas in a single day. It will take at least two days to restore normal flow,” a senior PWD official explained. But residents, already exasperated, were in no mood to be patient. Calls for water tankers continued despite the >Continued on P5 „„There was a sudden surge of pilgrims at the Sangam -- all driven by desire to take holy dip at 3 am, the start of the auspicious hour „„Crowd breaks barricades, jump to the other side „„People fall on those sitting and waiting for taking the holy dip, get crushed „„Over seven and half crore devotees take dip on Wednesday way under the pressure. As the barricades broke, people fell on those sitting and waiting for taking the holy dip during ''brahm muhurt'' (early morning time considered auspicious), he said. Boost for tourism; Goa moots visa on arrival for select countries THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The State government has decided to approach the Union Home Ministry with a proposal to allow Visa on Arrival or visa-free entry for selected source countries in a bid to boost quality tourism. The State has outlined plans to target premium tourist markets, including Finland, Estonia, Sweden, Scandinavia, Switzerland, and Central Asia. This strategic approach aims to attract high-income visitors, enhancing tourism by tapping into regions known for their affluent travelers, thereby fostering growth in the local tourism industry. The govt also will issue necessary directions to the Excise Department to ban sale of glass liquor bottles on or near the beach areas and to educate tourists not to carry such bottles on beaches and that breaking of bottles on beaches is a punishable offence. PANAJI Following two murders on the beaches involving employees of shacks, the State government has decided to ensure each shack staff is provided with ID cards with QR codes apart from making police verification of such staffers mandatory along with those employed to operate adventure sports activities in the State. The government is also contemplating restricting the number of beach beds to 150-200 altogether across the coastal belts of North and South, apart from maintaining uniform rates for water sports activities. Chief Secretary is set to chair a high level meeting on Thursday to discuss interdepartmental issues faced by tourism industry. During the meeting, directions would be issued to the police to mandatori- 4 Vengurla tourists attacked at Arambol PERNEM: Four tourists from Vengurla were seriously injured after they were allegedly assaulted at Arambol on Wednesday night. While details surrounding the incident were unclear, a Mandrem police team was at the site to investigate the incident. This latest clash comes barely three days after a local youth Amar Bandekar had died following an altercation with shack workers at Arambol beach on January 26 evening, after he reportedly objected to the obstruction caused by beach chairs belonging to the shack when he was out for a beach stroll. ly conduct police verification of shack staff and adventure sports personnel during each tourism season. The meeting will deliberate on demarcating swimming zones along the coastal belt, specific area for sun bathing and 150-200 beach beds. The move comes at the backdrop of two murders including a tourist from Andhra Pradesh. On January 26, a local businessman Amar Bandekar was killed at a shack at Arambol following an altercation with shack staff over deck beds and tables. Three people were arrested. On New Year’s eve, a Andhra tourist was killed after being brutally assaulted by the shack staff after a dispute over bill. Directions will also be issued to enhance beach safety protocols and action against illegal shack operations including subletting. Arambol murder: Shack to be razed, `25L fine DEPT REVOKES LICENSE FOR SUBLETTING SHACK, SECURITY DEPOSIT FORFEITED, OWNER BLACKLISTED THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The Tourism Department has imposed a penalty of Rs 25 lakh on shack owner Manuel Fernandes and forfeited his security deposit for allegedly subletting his shack at Arambol beach, where local businessman Amar Bandekar was brutally assaulted on January 26 leading to his death. Fernandes has also been permanently blacklisted, and his shack license stands revoked. The department has also ordered the 'Sea Lounge Beach Shack' to be demolished within seven days. Tourism Director Kedar Naik said the stringent action was taken due to a serious violation of the Goa State Shack Policy for Erec- Tourism Dept to use technology to identify illegally sublet shacks PANAJI: The Tourism Department will now leverage technology to identify illegally sublet shacks on the coastal belt. Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte conceded that several beach shack operators have been misusing the system by illegally subletting their structures to non-licensees including non-Goans. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, the minister revealed that these operators avoid any formal documentation to evade detection. However, the department will now use technology to monitor and penalize violators. >> See pg 3 MANDREM POLICE WARN SHACK OPERATORS TO AVOID TAKING LAW IN THEIR HANDS >> See pg 3 tion of Temporary Seasonal Structures, Beach Shacks, Deck Beds/Umbrellas for Tourist Season 2023-26 (three years). “Based on a report submitted by the Police Inspector of Mandrem Police Station on January 27, 2025, it was found that Manuel Fernandes, allottee of Shack No 4 at Arambol Beach stretch, had sublet the shack in violation of Clause > Continued on P5 State bets on AI, green corridors to mitigate pollution SHWETA KAMAT MAHATME THE GOAN I PANAJI C reation of green buffers along the traffic corridors, blacktopping of metaled roads and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven Security, Integrated Traffic Management system are some of the action plans proposed by the State government to mitigate vehicle emission and re-suspension of road dust and other fugitive emissions in the coastal State of Goa. The government has drafted an Action Plan to control various forms of pollution including dust and noise and for which various State government authorities like the public works department, department of transport and en- FUTURE PERFECT: PAVING THE WAY „„PWD to prepare plan for green buffers along traffic corridors to mitigate environmental impacts of traffic including air and noise pollution and soil erosion „„Pothole-free roads for free-flow of traffic, introducing water fountains at major traffic intersections „„Blacktopping of metaled road including pavement of vironment, traffic police, Goa State Pollution Control Board and Goa Waste Management Agencies are entrusted with various tasks. The Action Plan road shoulders „„AI traffic system for lane-driving to be introhas been prepared following detailed mapping of the cities and other hotspots. Under ‘Re-suspension of road dust and other fugitive duced „„Remote sensor based PUC system linked with transport department server to be installed „„New expressways/ bypasses to avoid congestion, infrastructure decongestion of road „„Plan to check fuel adulteration, random monitoring of fuel quality emissions control’, the government has directed the PWD to prepare a plan for creation of green buffers along the traffic corridors to mitigate the environmental impacts of traffic including air and noise pollution and soil erosion. The plan is essentially to design a green belt to surround a busy transportation route. The department is also directed to maintain potholes-free roads for free-flow of traffic, introducing water fountains at major traffic intersections, wherever feasible, blacktopping of metaled road including pavement of road shoulders, essentially resurfacing them with a bituminous material to improve their condition and extend their lifespan. As far as Vehicle Emission Control measures are concerned, the departments like transport, traffic, PWD, Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation and Goa Energy Development Agency (GEDA) are the implementing agencies. Under this, the State has proposed introducing AI traffic system for lane-driving, installation of remote sensor based PUC system linked with transport department server, new expressways/bypasses to avoid congestion, infrastructure decongestion of road, retrofitting of particular filters in diesel vehicles, plan to check fuel adulteration and random monitoring of fuel quality. As a measure to monitor industrial pollution, the GSPCB has already installed Online Emission Monitoring System for 17 category industries and also the steel manufacturing units are directed to install online system.