Tar balls continued to appear on Velsao Beach on Wednesday, albeit in smaller quantities in comparison to the first day when they were washed ashore.

The tar balls resurfaced on Wednesday afternoon, after the beach was cleaned a day ago by tourism officials and Drishti Special Response Service (DSRS) lifeguards.

Local people said during the high tide, a small amount of tar balls appeared on the beach.

“Few tar balls that were left unclean on the beach might have washed again into the sea and resurfaced today,” suspect a local, Caitan Vaz.

“Luckily, the tar balls have appeared during the off season when movement of tourists is very marginal, but still the impact is visible, as few domestic tourists who make their way to the beach, have curtailed their movement since Tuesday,” said Vaz.

The Drishti Special Response Service lifeguards, who have also joined to keep the beach clean, said the tar balls started resurfacing in the afternoon during the high tide, but the amount is very marginal comparatively to what had appeared on August 30.

In a press note, DSRS has raised concern over appearance of tar balls on the beaches, as its business is directly connected with beaches.

“If the influx of tourists on beaches is affected, then it will be matter of livelihood for the lifeguards working on the beaches,” stated DSRS.

Considering these aspect, DSRS lifeguards voluntarily cleaned the beach along with the department of tourism.

[Source]

Huge deposits invade Colva-Sernabatim stretch in Goa

An oil spill scare hit Salcete’s coastal belt on Monday evening as huge deposits of oil substance invaded the Colva-Sernabatim stretch of the coastline, posing nuisance to visitors and tourists alike.

Tar balls were also seen in small amounts at Baina, Velsao, Arrosim and Calangute shores on Monday.

Locals informed that the oily substance was washed ashore around noon, with the beach stretch playing host to a thick black layer of the oily substance.

The Sernabatim stretch of the coastline was the worst hit, with huge deposits of the oily substance resting on the sandy beach.

Till Monday evening, there was no sign of any official from any government agency or the local panchayat body making their presence felt at the beach.

The absence of any official and the repeated presence of tar balls on the beach have irked local activists who have demanded the intervention of the government to stop the menace. “It is high time the government takes up with the concerned agencies to ensure that ships stop discharging oil in the high seas”, remarked social activist, Judith Almeida.

She said that erring ships cannot be allowed to pollute the environment and damage the ecology, saying that it’s high time that the State government takes up the case with the concerned agencies. “The Tourism Minister should take this matter very seriously. Few days ago, Calangute beach bore the brunt of the tar balls. If this phenomenon goes unchecked, it will leave the ecosystem disturbed”, Almeida said.

That visitors were caught up with the tar balls was evident from the fact that the oily substance found its way right on the culverts over the creek.

A local resident Rosario said many tourists and visitors began withdrawing from the beach after the oily substance was washed ashore since 2 pm.

According to Drishti Special Response Service lifeguards, small amounts of oily substance like tar balls appeared on Baina, Arossim and Velsao beaches on Monday at about 4.30 pm.

The oily substance gradually surfaced on the beach, but the amount is very less comparatively to the beaches at Colva, Betalbatim and Benaulim.

Though Bogmalo Beach has not witnessed tar balls as of now, but in April, the entire stretch of beach turned dark due to the appearance of tar balls on the beach.

Presence of tar balls might not raise an alarm in the tourism department as the beaches have been closed for swimming in the wake of monsoon. The ban would be lifted probably in the first week of October, depending on the sea condition.

Tar balls were seen on Candolim shores in close vicinity of the stranded ‘River Princess’ on Monday afternoon.

According to sources, the tar balls were seen in large numbers on the Candolim shores as the area looked untidy.

Dhristi personnel confirmed that tar balls were seen in the area, but failed to provide any further details.

It may be recalled that tar balls were sighted at many beaches in the State barely three months ago.

On May 20, tar balls were found along the Nuem beach at Khola-Canacona. Four days later, small tar balls appeared over a long stretch at the Candolim beach, near the site of the grounded ‘River Princess’.

On May 27, tar balls mixed with an oily residue appeared over a 500-metre stretch of southern side of Agonda beach.

[Source]

The Chief Election Commissioner of India, Dr S Y Quereshi and Election Commissioner of India, Mr V S Sampath arrived in Goa on a three-day official visit to the state.

During his visit, Mr Quereshi will inaugurate the diamond jubilee photo exhibition on the journey of Indian democracy.

The CEC, who is also accompanied by the director general, ECI, Mr Akshay Rauth, was received by the state chief electoral officer, Mr Gonesh Koyu at the Dabolim airport along with the joint chief electoral officer, Mr N S Navti.

Later addressing a press conference, Mr Rauth said Mr Quereshi would inaugurate the three-day exhibition at Maquines Palace, which would showcase archived photographs of India’s democracy, 25 panels of all-India photographs and eight panels of photographs of elections in Goa.

He said that Goa is the 13th state in the country to host the exhibition to mark the 60th year of democracy. The exhibition was kicked off by the President, Ms Pratiba Patil on January 25. He also said that a movie on journey of Indian democracy would be screened in English and Konkani during the exhibition.

Mr Rauth said after the inauguration of the exhibition, there would be a daylong zonal symposium at the Goa International Centre to discuss best electoral procedures in the west zone comprising states and Union territories of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Goa. He said that besides other issues the symposium would also deliberate on the issue of expenditure and methods of tackling use of money power in elections.

The director general said that on August 31 there would be a zonal conference which would discuss issues of election management, election expenditure participation in elections and other issues.

On the issue of advertorials, Mr Rauth said the EC has set some guidelines for the state chief electoral officers to monitor the advertorials, and said the EC is concerned on the media-politician connection and will try its best to address the issue both at the symposium and the zone conference.

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Image courtesy:mapofindia.com

The Chief Minister, Mr Digambar Kamat said that the government will consider establishing a third district in the state, which would cover Ponda and the surrounding areas.

Mr Kamat said this while reacting to the request of the Home Minister, Mr Ravi Naik for a third district in the state. “We have had discussions on this earlier, and again this will be discussed and then the process would be initiated soon,” he said, speaking at a function to lay the foundation stone for renovation of the Rajiv Gandhi Kala Mandir in Ponda on Thursday.

The Chief Minister further said that at the budgetary meeting he had announced the state would soon have 12th taluka named Dharbandora and discussions were held on which areas would be included in the taluka. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Ravi Naik urged Mr Kamat to lay stress on the third district “as it would help the people of Ponda and its surrounding areas in a big way.”

[Source]