Fairy Tale of Ferries
Twenty-eight rivers to be crossed in Goa, but only 23 ferries available to you – an inexplicable shortfall of five. And, did it cross your mind that if the government takes Mauvin Godinho pitching for one Ravindra Bhavan per taluka seriously, you will end up with more Ravindra Bhavans than your much-needed neighbourhood ferry. Consider, as I said last week, this: ferry Rai – bottom plates require replacement; ferry Divar – bottom plates require replacement; ferry Diu –bottom/hull is weak and its doublers have been welded together; and ferry Sanguem – deck plates completely perforated. Plus, the fact these urgently needed repairs must be scheduled in the next 4-6 months. You are never ever going to get a ferry service that deserves to be called a ferry service. The logic: your government does not understand the simple principle behind the supply and demand theory. Mildly put, this is a logistics problem poor sods like you and me will have to navigate all alone. To put it entirely in a new perspective, this government seems determined to juggle around with whatever its existing (on that day) fleet of ferries is. It does not matter to it how many more ferries get laid up for repairs.
Vasco da Gama and his sailors had an easier passage to India
Look at the risks you run:
Ferries waiting their turn to be repaired at the marine workshop, Betim
Cumbarjua – Major repairs being carried out.
Quepem – Awaiting major repairs since February 2006. Repairs to be carried out by third party.
Chandor – Awaiting major repairs since February 2007. Repairs to be carried out by third party.
Canacona – Awaiting major repairs since October 2007 – Bottom perforated. Major repairs to be carried out immediately.
Zuari – Awaiting major repairs since August 2008. Bottom perforated. Major repairs to be carried out immediately.
Harvalem –Awaiting major repairs since August 2008. Bottom plate perforated. Major repairs to be carried out immediately.
Zorint – Major repairs being carried out since September 2008.
Dudhsagar – Awaiting major repairs since July 2008. Repairs to be carried out by third party.
Betul – Awaiting major repairs since September 2008. Has weak bottom. Kept at workshop since October 25, 2008.
The notations on the seaworthiness or delay in even bothering to repair the ferries are not mine. They are the comments of the River Navigation Department and speak volumes on how much your montris care for you. Imagine, in the midst of the mother of all recessions, and in the aftermath of which India's most gung ho SEZ players are themselves acting to get their mega plans denotified (see Herald Biz December 11), the Goa Industrial Development Corporation intends to construct an industrial estate at Carambolim on 2.82 lakh sq mts.
Not Seaworthy
That the ferries in Goa are single-bottomed unlike barges and other ships which have double–bottoms, is a worse concern. In a built-to-specifications vessel the two steel bottoms encase a series of tanks, because if a barge or ship springs a major leak, the leakage in the vessel is controlled or staggered. This is a very basic explanation to how these vessels are specifically designed for such an eventuality, but says enough for the lay person. If a ferry springs a major leak, sea water will fill the vessel in a rush and simply inundate it till it sinks like a stone in water. The panic passengers will cause as a result, and the unevenly distributed weight of the vehicles in the ferry will only hasten the sinking of a ferry. This is the cold as steel reality.
For a State that has easily the worst public transport system in India and possibly in Asia (only Bangladesh could arguably rival Goa) the river transport is no better. If you have not had the courage to look at the rusted bottom and sides of the ferry you use to cross over daily, drum up the courage and take a hard look at the facts. The harder facts are there is just no money to be made in building new ferries for you, like there is in building Ravindra Bhavans, six-lane highways, sports stadia, industrial estates, SEZs etc etc. The only money that can be made on Goa's rivers; is in building barges. You will be as stunned as if a Tsunami hit you if I tell you how many of your montris own barges. Don't get too anxious for the moment about who owns those SUVs that crawl the Mandovi and Zuari taking away our wealth and gifting it to China, there is time for that.
Feedback 6658606, lionroars@gmail.com)
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Ferrytale - II
Shock and awe
My investigation of the ferry problem exposed two amazing facts. One I can understand, the other I can't. Approximately, Rs 9 cr is spent by the government to run the ferry service every year. That I can understand. If there is a disruption in service, more often than not, even before the users (who) are affected, the shop vendors at the entrance to the jetties and the motorcycle pilots are the first to complain as they have a vested interest – their business gets affected. On the other hand, it appears that of these two breeds, the shop vendors would be happier if there was only a skeletal service running at each jetty – the more the people waiting for a longer period of time for the boats, the brisker is their business. Not so with the pilots who'd be on the side of the commuter – a faster throughput for him would be welcome. Whatever be the facts, this is the real picture: There is just too much for the tiny fleet of ferries to handle.
The Crossing (ferries operating as on November 24 2008)
Kerim-Tiracol -1
Kiranpani-Aronda -1
Camurlim-Tuem -1
Calvim-Carona -1
Pomburpa-Chorao -1
Panjim-Betim -1
Ribandar-Chorao -3
Old Goa-Divar -1
Ribandar-Divar -2
Vanxim-Amboi -1
Naroa-Divar -1
Tolto-Dhauji -1
Cumbarjua-Gaundalim -1
Tonca-Sarmanas -1
Volvoi-Surla-Maina -1
Madcaim-Cortalim -2
Rassaim-Durbhat -1
Rai-Shiroda -1
Cavelossim-Assolna -1
Total crossings: 28
Ferries available: 23
Details of major repairs that will have to be scheduled in the next 4-6 months:
Ferry Rai –Bottom plates require replacement.
Ferry Divar –Bottom plates require replacement.
Ferry Diu –Bottom/hull is weak and doublers welded together.
Ferry Sanquem – Deck plates completed perforated.
This is the stark truth and if you think the ferry you use to cross over daily is any better off than the above listed. Think again. Better still, check out the gaping holes on the sides of the ferry. Which is why I said you can start whistling if you think this what-calls-for-drastic action problem, is never going to be fixed. This government and the minister who got dumped with the portfolio of River Navigation Department are just not interested. They are looking at greener pastures like turning Margao into a whole new arts and culture centre.
While this government makes it so easy to be nailed for its sins of omission and commission, a disturbing fact is that Divar island (and I presume Chorao as well) has helped spawn a culture of bribe. For the official Rs 10 Ribandar-Divar fare, the ticketless tariff is Rs 5 and for the official Rs 7 Old Goa-Divar fare, the ticketless travels costs Rs 5. I see the logic (though I do not myself indulge) in paying Rs 5 instead of Rs 10, but for crying out loud, why pay Rs 5 for Rs 7. The downside is the ferry staff go overboard (metaphorically speaking) to accommodate the many, many trucks and buses that cross daily, because there's really big money to be made. In fact between squeezing in the trucks and two-wheelers who despite the fact they were allowed to travel free (a dole out before the last elections) by the MLA and former Navigation Department minister Pandurang Madkaikar and think the ferries were specially built for them, crossing across from Divar has come to be a major irritant if you own a car.
(Feedback 6658606, lionroars@gmail.com)
My investigation of the ferry problem exposed two amazing facts. One I can understand, the other I can't. Approximately, Rs 9 cr is spent by the government to run the ferry service every year. That I can understand. If there is a disruption in service, more often than not, even before the users (who) are affected, the shop vendors at the entrance to the jetties and the motorcycle pilots are the first to complain as they have a vested interest – their business gets affected. On the other hand, it appears that of these two breeds, the shop vendors would be happier if there was only a skeletal service running at each jetty – the more the people waiting for a longer period of time for the boats, the brisker is their business. Not so with the pilots who'd be on the side of the commuter – a faster throughput for him would be welcome. Whatever be the facts, this is the real picture: There is just too much for the tiny fleet of ferries to handle.
The Crossing (ferries operating as on November 24 2008)
Kerim-Tiracol -1
Kiranpani-Aronda -1
Camurlim-Tuem -1
Calvim-Carona -1
Pomburpa-Chorao -1
Panjim-Betim -1
Ribandar-Chorao -3
Old Goa-Divar -1
Ribandar-Divar -2
Vanxim-Amboi -1
Naroa-Divar -1
Tolto-Dhauji -1
Cumbarjua-Gaundalim -1
Tonca-Sarmanas -1
Volvoi-Surla-Maina -1
Madcaim-Cortalim -2
Rassaim-Durbhat -1
Rai-Shiroda -1
Cavelossim-Assolna -1
Total crossings: 28
Ferries available: 23
Details of major repairs that will have to be scheduled in the next 4-6 months:
Ferry Rai –Bottom plates require replacement.
Ferry Divar –Bottom plates require replacement.
Ferry Diu –Bottom/hull is weak and doublers welded together.
Ferry Sanquem – Deck plates completed perforated.
This is the stark truth and if you think the ferry you use to cross over daily is any better off than the above listed. Think again. Better still, check out the gaping holes on the sides of the ferry. Which is why I said you can start whistling if you think this what-calls-for-drastic action problem, is never going to be fixed. This government and the minister who got dumped with the portfolio of River Navigation Department are just not interested. They are looking at greener pastures like turning Margao into a whole new arts and culture centre.
While this government makes it so easy to be nailed for its sins of omission and commission, a disturbing fact is that Divar island (and I presume Chorao as well) has helped spawn a culture of bribe. For the official Rs 10 Ribandar-Divar fare, the ticketless tariff is Rs 5 and for the official Rs 7 Old Goa-Divar fare, the ticketless travels costs Rs 5. I see the logic (though I do not myself indulge) in paying Rs 5 instead of Rs 10, but for crying out loud, why pay Rs 5 for Rs 7. The downside is the ferry staff go overboard (metaphorically speaking) to accommodate the many, many trucks and buses that cross daily, because there's really big money to be made. In fact between squeezing in the trucks and two-wheelers who despite the fact they were allowed to travel free (a dole out before the last elections) by the MLA and former Navigation Department minister Pandurang Madkaikar and think the ferries were specially built for them, crossing across from Divar has come to be a major irritant if you own a car.
(Feedback 6658606, lionroars@gmail.com)
Friday, December 12, 2008
Don't pay the ferryman
Taking us for a ride
Look around and watch the cars our ministers, MLAs and IAS officers travel in. There is never a shortage of official four wheels or the latest model update on the road. If you don't see one it is because you are not looking, or frankly couldn't care a fig. But there seem to be as many government vehicles in and around Panjim to put it in broader perspective as there are migrants in and around Panjim. You would think this government ran on wheels. It even has a marine police wing whose largest boat would sail down the Mandovi till about a year and a half ago with the kids of some senior cop or IAS type on board.
More to the point, this very same government at present has 37 ferry vessels. Twenty-three of them are in working condition or barely floating. Of this overly stretched fleet of 37 vessels, 28 are needed to provide a normal service (as defined by the government, not me). In other words, there is a shortfall of five. The figure of five is what the government says and is based on the fact 23 ferries are in working condition. So, because the figure of 37 ferries could be far more than what is physically required to provide a decent on-time service, the figure of five could be meaningless. But then governments love to throw figures at you. But, we who travel in ferries know better.
The river winds
Somewhere in this huge heap of virtual scrap metal, officials say are 14 ferries awaiting repairs of which 10 need major repairs. Major repairs in shipping lingo could mean bottom plate replacement or even engine overhaul. What I am saying here is we might not just have a fleet of ferries sooner than later or, at best the 23 figure could go down progressively or quickly. No one knows. Factor in the fact that the government has a budget of just Rs 50 lakh per annum for maintenance and to buy spares for its fleet. In other words, the smallest expense at IFFI couldn't have been smaller than this.
These are more facts I find startling. Over the past seven years, no outside party has been commissioned to undertake repairs as there was no real need for this. This is the official line of thinking. The government bought 12 ferry boats (single engine, single bottomed) between 1998-2000 for approx Rs 22 lakh each. Normally, a new ferry does not need to be repaired for the first six years or so. This means the government has clearly gone to sleep over the issue of replenishing its fleet of ageing vessels. Carrying out major repairs to a ferry at today's prices could cost up to Rs 30 lakh and involves overhauling of the vessel's bottom and sides. And yet twenty times this amount is wasted each time the government thinks of constructing some totally unwanted building. In fact, a fraction of its own gas bill would pay for the cost of a brand new fleet of much wanted ferries.
………and bends
The process for having six ferries repaired was started two years ago, but due to politicking especially in the Assembly, the tenders have been delayed. Result: The politicians looked good, we suffered. Now, the re-tendering process will reportedly begin this month and after that, if everything goes well, the contracts will be awarded after due process. Amen to that if happens. Repairs to a ferry normally take about 45 days and, if the firm undertaking the repairs has the capacity to handle three vessels simultaneously, it would take nearly 90 days for the six ferries to be repaired. But, the tender process must be completed, the politicking must end, and a government must be in place or, else you can say ta ta to your dream of having a passable river crossing service. But, there's still a problem I have not been able to make sense of. And that is, it appears the government will sanction only Rs 50 lakh as token money towards this repair work. This is against, the approximately Rs 2crore it would require to repair these boats. This, the government has to sanction out of a contingency fund. But what this government needs to really do is to immediately invite bids to construct six new ferry boats which will cost nearly Rs 75lakh each. These new ferries must have two engines for better speed and manneouvrability especially to avoid colliding with barges.
If this can be a smooth process, then the bidder who is awarded the contract must deliver a ferry within the stipulated period of 100 days. But, as in the case of a simple question of repairing six ferries, this has languished for two years. My final point being you can kiss goodbye to having your ferry problem resolved for several more years.
(Feedback 6658606, 9822152164, lionroars.goa@gmail.com)
Look around and watch the cars our ministers, MLAs and IAS officers travel in. There is never a shortage of official four wheels or the latest model update on the road. If you don't see one it is because you are not looking, or frankly couldn't care a fig. But there seem to be as many government vehicles in and around Panjim to put it in broader perspective as there are migrants in and around Panjim. You would think this government ran on wheels. It even has a marine police wing whose largest boat would sail down the Mandovi till about a year and a half ago with the kids of some senior cop or IAS type on board.
More to the point, this very same government at present has 37 ferry vessels. Twenty-three of them are in working condition or barely floating. Of this overly stretched fleet of 37 vessels, 28 are needed to provide a normal service (as defined by the government, not me). In other words, there is a shortfall of five. The figure of five is what the government says and is based on the fact 23 ferries are in working condition. So, because the figure of 37 ferries could be far more than what is physically required to provide a decent on-time service, the figure of five could be meaningless. But then governments love to throw figures at you. But, we who travel in ferries know better.
The river winds
Somewhere in this huge heap of virtual scrap metal, officials say are 14 ferries awaiting repairs of which 10 need major repairs. Major repairs in shipping lingo could mean bottom plate replacement or even engine overhaul. What I am saying here is we might not just have a fleet of ferries sooner than later or, at best the 23 figure could go down progressively or quickly. No one knows. Factor in the fact that the government has a budget of just Rs 50 lakh per annum for maintenance and to buy spares for its fleet. In other words, the smallest expense at IFFI couldn't have been smaller than this.
These are more facts I find startling. Over the past seven years, no outside party has been commissioned to undertake repairs as there was no real need for this. This is the official line of thinking. The government bought 12 ferry boats (single engine, single bottomed) between 1998-2000 for approx Rs 22 lakh each. Normally, a new ferry does not need to be repaired for the first six years or so. This means the government has clearly gone to sleep over the issue of replenishing its fleet of ageing vessels. Carrying out major repairs to a ferry at today's prices could cost up to Rs 30 lakh and involves overhauling of the vessel's bottom and sides. And yet twenty times this amount is wasted each time the government thinks of constructing some totally unwanted building. In fact, a fraction of its own gas bill would pay for the cost of a brand new fleet of much wanted ferries.
………and bends
The process for having six ferries repaired was started two years ago, but due to politicking especially in the Assembly, the tenders have been delayed. Result: The politicians looked good, we suffered. Now, the re-tendering process will reportedly begin this month and after that, if everything goes well, the contracts will be awarded after due process. Amen to that if happens. Repairs to a ferry normally take about 45 days and, if the firm undertaking the repairs has the capacity to handle three vessels simultaneously, it would take nearly 90 days for the six ferries to be repaired. But, the tender process must be completed, the politicking must end, and a government must be in place or, else you can say ta ta to your dream of having a passable river crossing service. But, there's still a problem I have not been able to make sense of. And that is, it appears the government will sanction only Rs 50 lakh as token money towards this repair work. This is against, the approximately Rs 2crore it would require to repair these boats. This, the government has to sanction out of a contingency fund. But what this government needs to really do is to immediately invite bids to construct six new ferry boats which will cost nearly Rs 75lakh each. These new ferries must have two engines for better speed and manneouvrability especially to avoid colliding with barges.
If this can be a smooth process, then the bidder who is awarded the contract must deliver a ferry within the stipulated period of 100 days. But, as in the case of a simple question of repairing six ferries, this has languished for two years. My final point being you can kiss goodbye to having your ferry problem resolved for several more years.
(Feedback 6658606, 9822152164, lionroars.goa@gmail.com)
Friday, December 5, 2008
RTI - Right to Ignore
Mountain of a Mole Hill!
Remember the hill that came crashing down at Porvorim, and caused an upheaval in your travel routine. Then there was this other one, opposite the Ribandar ferry to Divar. This one went unnoticed, the PWD got into the act rather quickly, and now it looks like a resident there has turned the open space nature created, into a private car park. In Goa landslides can be advantageous too. Like, the misfortune to you at Porvorim, turned out to be a fortune for many up in the hill opposite and down in the divide. Who cleaned up the mess, that is. As of October 17, 2008 (apparently there is more to this) Sneha Engineering of Duler in Mapusa was paid Rs 87,06,578 to remove the soil and debris that came down. In keeping with the Goa government's understanding of a natural law (justice delayed, is not justice denied) to mean instead 'justice denied, is justice delayed' none of the culprits involved have been brought to book till date.
The other beneficiary of this land slid is NB Dhargalkar of Muquem in Cuncolim who bid Rs 1,23,49,112 to build protection measures on the road side embankment including construction of a retaining wall exactly 600 metres in length. To be precise, from the Km. 1/200 point to the Km. 1/800 point. I have no idea how much it cost the Chinese to restore selective touristy portions of the Great Wall. Even if I did, would it matter? Would it matter for that matter if you and I objected if the guys in the opposite of the hill, now decided to smother the 'restored' hill side with ornamental plants imported from Bali? Would it?
Back to Books
Trying to unlock the mysteries of the Central Library, I was offered this spiel by the Directorate of Art & Culture. I report verbatim: "Construction work of the new building was initiated by the Directorate of Education and the initial plans were submitted by the Central Library in consultation with library professionals to the Directorate of Education. Further, GSIDC had also consulted eminent library professionals in this regard." I thought I was better than the enemy at this RTI stuff after all these years. I am humbled. I never thought of asking this bleeding question: 'Please give the names of all the well-known, renowned, distinguished and famous librarians you consulted?' Then of course, their reply would have been: 'We did not consult any librarians, we only consulted library professionals.' RTI, as you can see also means Right to Ignore.
I asked what books will be kept at the Central Library, the answer: encyclopedias, handbooks, conference proceedings, yearbooks, manuals, law books, general reading books like novels, dramas, poetries, memoirs, humour, letters, biographies, basic books on engineering, science, architecture, social studies, psychology, religion, economics, political science, education, public administration, commerce, customs and tradition, management, house building, sculptures, music, sports, philosophy, history and geography along with maps, charts, CDs and DVDs. Phew!
(Feedback 6658606, lionroars.goa@gmail.com)
Remember the hill that came crashing down at Porvorim, and caused an upheaval in your travel routine. Then there was this other one, opposite the Ribandar ferry to Divar. This one went unnoticed, the PWD got into the act rather quickly, and now it looks like a resident there has turned the open space nature created, into a private car park. In Goa landslides can be advantageous too. Like, the misfortune to you at Porvorim, turned out to be a fortune for many up in the hill opposite and down in the divide. Who cleaned up the mess, that is. As of October 17, 2008 (apparently there is more to this) Sneha Engineering of Duler in Mapusa was paid Rs 87,06,578 to remove the soil and debris that came down. In keeping with the Goa government's understanding of a natural law (justice delayed, is not justice denied) to mean instead 'justice denied, is justice delayed' none of the culprits involved have been brought to book till date.
The other beneficiary of this land slid is NB Dhargalkar of Muquem in Cuncolim who bid Rs 1,23,49,112 to build protection measures on the road side embankment including construction of a retaining wall exactly 600 metres in length. To be precise, from the Km. 1/200 point to the Km. 1/800 point. I have no idea how much it cost the Chinese to restore selective touristy portions of the Great Wall. Even if I did, would it matter? Would it matter for that matter if you and I objected if the guys in the opposite of the hill, now decided to smother the 'restored' hill side with ornamental plants imported from Bali? Would it?
Back to Books
Trying to unlock the mysteries of the Central Library, I was offered this spiel by the Directorate of Art & Culture. I report verbatim: "Construction work of the new building was initiated by the Directorate of Education and the initial plans were submitted by the Central Library in consultation with library professionals to the Directorate of Education. Further, GSIDC had also consulted eminent library professionals in this regard." I thought I was better than the enemy at this RTI stuff after all these years. I am humbled. I never thought of asking this bleeding question: 'Please give the names of all the well-known, renowned, distinguished and famous librarians you consulted?' Then of course, their reply would have been: 'We did not consult any librarians, we only consulted library professionals.' RTI, as you can see also means Right to Ignore.
I asked what books will be kept at the Central Library, the answer: encyclopedias, handbooks, conference proceedings, yearbooks, manuals, law books, general reading books like novels, dramas, poetries, memoirs, humour, letters, biographies, basic books on engineering, science, architecture, social studies, psychology, religion, economics, political science, education, public administration, commerce, customs and tradition, management, house building, sculptures, music, sports, philosophy, history and geography along with maps, charts, CDs and DVDs. Phew!
(Feedback 6658606, lionroars.goa@gmail.com)
The Reading Habit - Final
How the Library came about
Here's another perplexing item on the Central Library. The land on which it is being built was first acquired on behalf of the Education Department. It was later transferred to the Directorate of Art & Culture (DAC) – I am not sure if at that point in time, the Education Department also sold them the idea (at the behest of a certain master puppeteer; after all departments don't think, they just do) of building the Central Library.
But, you can bet your hard earned money on the fact that the same genius working from the Porvorim Secretariat decided everybody would be better off if the DAC were made the motivators of the plan that was about to unfurl. So, you now have a ground plus six floors building under construction, each floor, I estimated from the plans to be 2100 m2 per floor. That's a huge 14,700 M2 for the grand edifice!
Knowledge Society
You think? Nah. Rest assured our politicians have no intention whatsoever of turning us into a Knowledge Society. The band of voracious readers will simply have to discard their reading habit when the old Central Library is eventually moved from the conveniently located Institute Menezes Braganza to difficult-to-access Patto Plaza. Ironically for the lettered men, women and kids who go to absorb knowledge clearly the writing is on the wall.
From my reading of the plans, the ground floor of the building is almost wasted and appears to be entirely a utilities area. It has a basement too. Ground Floor: It has a 50 M2 kitchen and a 77 M2 dinning hall. The remaining space in the floor has a transformer room and 2 toilets, and will be taken up to house offices for the DAC. Remember, I said each floor had an area of 2,100m2 . Floor 1: Has two more offices 139 M2 and 280 M2 in size, atrium space of 139 M2 (in other words wasted) an entrance lobby of 281 M2, an exhibition hall of 210 M2 and wonder of wonders, a bookshop of 68 M2. Do you think, the planners of this hoax on you, could have made this a wee bit smaller? But, the good news is there are loos a dime a dozen on every floor.
The Maze Continues
Floor II: It has 3 library areas – 422 M2, 136 M2, 421 M2. An exhibition hall (no size mentioned), a lecture room 139 M2 in size and a mobile+taluka+circulating libraries (this is exactly how it is described in the plans) of 281 M2. There are also two huge unmeasured spaces called 'void' in the plans. Floor III: It has a Konkani and Marathi library section of 492 M2 which purposefully I think was not bifurcated. No prizes for guessing why. And if you didn't know, silly, it is because you won't find any Konkani books there eventually. That's also why the Hindi section is as large as 492M2. And, guess who is going to read books in Hindi? There are spaces called 'technical' and one called 'storage.' Check this out. There is a rest room for peons, a rest room for female staff and a rest room for male staff. And I am talking loos here, if you think American and imagine rest room means a loo. There are more large offices of every kind imaginable and two waiting rooms. Floor IV: It is entirely a library. Floor V: Half this floor has been divided up into a local history section and a reference section. I am not sure about the other half because the floor plan does not say anything about this area. Or, I was not meant to understand it. Attic: Has a section called 'scholars' among other library sections.
(Feedback: 6658606, 9822152164, lionroars.goa@gmail.com)
--
Here's another perplexing item on the Central Library. The land on which it is being built was first acquired on behalf of the Education Department. It was later transferred to the Directorate of Art & Culture (DAC) – I am not sure if at that point in time, the Education Department also sold them the idea (at the behest of a certain master puppeteer; after all departments don't think, they just do) of building the Central Library.
But, you can bet your hard earned money on the fact that the same genius working from the Porvorim Secretariat decided everybody would be better off if the DAC were made the motivators of the plan that was about to unfurl. So, you now have a ground plus six floors building under construction, each floor, I estimated from the plans to be 2100 m2 per floor. That's a huge 14,700 M2 for the grand edifice!
Knowledge Society
You think? Nah. Rest assured our politicians have no intention whatsoever of turning us into a Knowledge Society. The band of voracious readers will simply have to discard their reading habit when the old Central Library is eventually moved from the conveniently located Institute Menezes Braganza to difficult-to-access Patto Plaza. Ironically for the lettered men, women and kids who go to absorb knowledge clearly the writing is on the wall.
From my reading of the plans, the ground floor of the building is almost wasted and appears to be entirely a utilities area. It has a basement too. Ground Floor: It has a 50 M2 kitchen and a 77 M2 dinning hall. The remaining space in the floor has a transformer room and 2 toilets, and will be taken up to house offices for the DAC. Remember, I said each floor had an area of 2,100m2 . Floor 1: Has two more offices 139 M2 and 280 M2 in size, atrium space of 139 M2 (in other words wasted) an entrance lobby of 281 M2, an exhibition hall of 210 M2 and wonder of wonders, a bookshop of 68 M2. Do you think, the planners of this hoax on you, could have made this a wee bit smaller? But, the good news is there are loos a dime a dozen on every floor.
The Maze Continues
Floor II: It has 3 library areas – 422 M2, 136 M2, 421 M2. An exhibition hall (no size mentioned), a lecture room 139 M2 in size and a mobile+taluka+circulating libraries (this is exactly how it is described in the plans) of 281 M2. There are also two huge unmeasured spaces called 'void' in the plans. Floor III: It has a Konkani and Marathi library section of 492 M2 which purposefully I think was not bifurcated. No prizes for guessing why. And if you didn't know, silly, it is because you won't find any Konkani books there eventually. That's also why the Hindi section is as large as 492M2. And, guess who is going to read books in Hindi? There are spaces called 'technical' and one called 'storage.' Check this out. There is a rest room for peons, a rest room for female staff and a rest room for male staff. And I am talking loos here, if you think American and imagine rest room means a loo. There are more large offices of every kind imaginable and two waiting rooms. Floor IV: It is entirely a library. Floor V: Half this floor has been divided up into a local history section and a reference section. I am not sure about the other half because the floor plan does not say anything about this area. Or, I was not meant to understand it. Attic: Has a section called 'scholars' among other library sections.
(Feedback: 6658606, 9822152164, lionroars.goa@gmail.com)
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Friday, November 21, 2008
Book Worm
Reading Habit
It boggles the mind. When your montris want to make money they have ingenious ways to do that. Once before, if you remember, despite you not being great film buffs, they smothered you with IFFI. The big bucks got bigger for them despite all the reels they give us about making IFFI more about films and less about glitzy entertainment which btw, is what IFFI has turned out to be. Then they decided that entire India could do without IFFI. So, now it's going to have a retirement home at Kala Academy and live there happily ever after. A little later they decided you and I have a voracious reading habit. So, they planned a Central Library, now being built at Patto Plaza. You can bet next, they will find an equally stunning reason to convert the existing Central Library at the Institute Menezes Braganza to a mall. ADAPTIVE REUSE, they call it. Thank you very much.
Guess what, the Central Library will cost? Rs 15,95,00,629.70 and I am still trying to find out what the heck they intend to do with this monolith, so stay with me on this will you, even if you are in danger of losing the Reading Habit temporarily. This business takes time.
Booker Prize stuff
On what basis was the consultant for the project appointed? The Goa State Industrial Development Corporation, Goa's very own L&T with a difference said it appointed Architecture Autonomous (Gerard D'Cunha's outfit) on the basis of a national level architectural competition. You and I, the shareholders don't get to enjoy dividends, only the stakeholders do, if you get my drift.
GSIDC said it got 75 applications, and from that five were short listed. These five were invited to take part in a competition but only Architecture Autonomous and a Uttam C. Jain participated. This is about the only part I can't quarrel with. Oh, there's this part about the fees you may think is high. I do too. It's like this – the architect will be paid 4% for his comprehensive architectural services, 4% for interior architecture, 6% for graphic designing and 5% for landscape architecture. There was no response to the first call from GSIDC's list of empanelled project management consultants. Only Frischmann Prabhu (I) Pvt Ltd bid at the second call. Isn't it amazing, remember Garden of Eden, how even empanelled firms are reluctant to bid in Goa? I say just un-empanel them. Do we really need to invest Rs 15,95,00,629.70 cr in a building ostensibly for reading.
Museum Piece
On November 11 when I visited the Goa State Museum there were more attendants than visitors. I was the only one in fact. The visitors registered showed eight footfalls, none on 10th, 9th and 8th. Only four visited on the 7th. Need I say more?. In the so-called Christian Art Gallery there are bigger than life-size portraits of two Portuguese governors. Figure out how governors become 'Christian' art for your selves, because I can't. No single art work or portrait has details (so essential) like the period it came from, or its origin. The museum has quite a few statues with the legend 'unidentified saints.' In other words, the Goa State Museum inaugurated in June 1996 is yet to determine whether these are really saints or just some ancient craftsman's genius. A remarkable wooden Chariot Parod-Quepem 18th c AD lies there, un-restored and uncared for. In fact there are far too many huge offices in the museum and far too few historical pieces, all of which point to a criminal waste of space. And yet, right now the museum's auditorium is being renovated. Probably at great expense.
Book of Fiction
Clearly when a museum is neglected, what can you expect of the Central Library? In fact, the design plans for the Central Library to be discussed here next week duplicates some of the facilities available at the museum. Did the planners of this project also consider they might be duplicating facilities available at the Institute of Menezes Braganza, Kala Academy or even the International Centre at Dona Paula? You bet they didn't. After all why should they bother about such niggling details when they are using taxpayers' money? Do you think they also considered that the overly commercialized Patto Plaza was hardly the venue for fostering the reading habit? By a hair's breadth maybe, because, to be put up next, opposite the Central Library is Ginger, the 5-star hotel with a huge shopping mall. Of course they didn't by any breadth of measurement, because if they did, they would have built it within the huge Goa University campus. Oops do you think I am giving them ideas that will cost us further?
Feedback: 6658606, lionroars.goa@gmail.com)
It boggles the mind. When your montris want to make money they have ingenious ways to do that. Once before, if you remember, despite you not being great film buffs, they smothered you with IFFI. The big bucks got bigger for them despite all the reels they give us about making IFFI more about films and less about glitzy entertainment which btw, is what IFFI has turned out to be. Then they decided that entire India could do without IFFI. So, now it's going to have a retirement home at Kala Academy and live there happily ever after. A little later they decided you and I have a voracious reading habit. So, they planned a Central Library, now being built at Patto Plaza. You can bet next, they will find an equally stunning reason to convert the existing Central Library at the Institute Menezes Braganza to a mall. ADAPTIVE REUSE, they call it. Thank you very much.
Guess what, the Central Library will cost? Rs 15,95,00,629.70 and I am still trying to find out what the heck they intend to do with this monolith, so stay with me on this will you, even if you are in danger of losing the Reading Habit temporarily. This business takes time.
Booker Prize stuff
On what basis was the consultant for the project appointed? The Goa State Industrial Development Corporation, Goa's very own L&T with a difference said it appointed Architecture Autonomous (Gerard D'Cunha's outfit) on the basis of a national level architectural competition. You and I, the shareholders don't get to enjoy dividends, only the stakeholders do, if you get my drift.
GSIDC said it got 75 applications, and from that five were short listed. These five were invited to take part in a competition but only Architecture Autonomous and a Uttam C. Jain participated. This is about the only part I can't quarrel with. Oh, there's this part about the fees you may think is high. I do too. It's like this – the architect will be paid 4% for his comprehensive architectural services, 4% for interior architecture, 6% for graphic designing and 5% for landscape architecture. There was no response to the first call from GSIDC's list of empanelled project management consultants. Only Frischmann Prabhu (I) Pvt Ltd bid at the second call. Isn't it amazing, remember Garden of Eden, how even empanelled firms are reluctant to bid in Goa? I say just un-empanel them. Do we really need to invest Rs 15,95,00,629.70 cr in a building ostensibly for reading.
Museum Piece
On November 11 when I visited the Goa State Museum there were more attendants than visitors. I was the only one in fact. The visitors registered showed eight footfalls, none on 10th, 9th and 8th. Only four visited on the 7th. Need I say more?. In the so-called Christian Art Gallery there are bigger than life-size portraits of two Portuguese governors. Figure out how governors become 'Christian' art for your selves, because I can't. No single art work or portrait has details (so essential) like the period it came from, or its origin. The museum has quite a few statues with the legend 'unidentified saints.' In other words, the Goa State Museum inaugurated in June 1996 is yet to determine whether these are really saints or just some ancient craftsman's genius. A remarkable wooden Chariot Parod-Quepem 18th c AD lies there, un-restored and uncared for. In fact there are far too many huge offices in the museum and far too few historical pieces, all of which point to a criminal waste of space. And yet, right now the museum's auditorium is being renovated. Probably at great expense.
Book of Fiction
Clearly when a museum is neglected, what can you expect of the Central Library? In fact, the design plans for the Central Library to be discussed here next week duplicates some of the facilities available at the museum. Did the planners of this project also consider they might be duplicating facilities available at the Institute of Menezes Braganza, Kala Academy or even the International Centre at Dona Paula? You bet they didn't. After all why should they bother about such niggling details when they are using taxpayers' money? Do you think they also considered that the overly commercialized Patto Plaza was hardly the venue for fostering the reading habit? By a hair's breadth maybe, because, to be put up next, opposite the Central Library is Ginger, the 5-star hotel with a huge shopping mall. Of course they didn't by any breadth of measurement, because if they did, they would have built it within the huge Goa University campus. Oops do you think I am giving them ideas that will cost us further?
Feedback: 6658606, lionroars.goa@gmail.com)
Friday, November 14, 2008
Garden of Eden - Final
Of monolithic malls
Last week you read how Rs 1,59,68,204 of your tax money is at this moment being wasted on a project mysteriously called 'renovation of the garden at Rua De Ourem' in Panjim. There is no garden really, but that's old hat now. You also read how a duct is being built at a cost of Rs 77 lakh whose only purpose is to accommodate the telecommunication cables of various agencies. That was the first part conceived for the project. The second part described here, costing all of Rs 82 lakh, was conceived to create an additional pathway for pedestrians by extending the footpath/garden by 90 cms into the creek. This will be achieved by constructing reinforced concrete cement beams and slabs. And what do you know, there still won't be a garden, which is what I have been saying in the past two columns.
Led down the garden path
After all how much money can you make on plants etc? It is the concrete aspect that solidifies this and makes the big bucks move, if you get my drift. The funny thing as I said before, nobody uses this side of the road because it is sun drenched. Those who do walk in this rather isolated area, use the opposite footpath shaded by a long line of buildings etc. This is the side too where people park their cars because it has buildings and shops etc. Therefore, I don't see anybody using the car park planned on the other side. Why? Because, the narrow road, approximately 8-9 m wide simply won't accommodate cars parked either side. On the other hand, since drivers don't care any longer where they park, this could create one hell of a parking problem. I asked GSIDC, the perpetrators of this imbecilic idea if they had ever thought about shifting this equally misplaced parking lot to an appropriate place, they answered they had never thought of it. You won't, you simply can't when you don't appoint an architect to design a plan, but do things on your own.
Benchmark
Call it that, because KG Thomas, the contractor who apparently contrived to get this lucrative job, quoted Rs 2,60,000 to supply 13 concrete benches that will be placed on the footpath being built. So, now you will have vagabonds resting on these benches at night creating a nuisance for people waiting for the last bus to Margao. Or, the Corporation of the City of Panjim (what a glorified name for an organization that sleeps 24x7) might just be convinced to shift the radhiwallahs from the sacrosanct Azad Maidan and also persuade the cricket team of migrant workers to shift their club grounds from there to this new venue. There, could of course be worse uses for this. And meanwhile, amidst the costly extravaganza, the creek will continue to stink and be a breeding ground for mosquitoes becausing nobody thought of cleaning it.
Parsvanath, the builder of monolithic shopping malls across India announced it will build a 5-star hotel in what is left of Patto Plaza despite what EDC's MD assured me a long time ago that no hotel would be allowed to come up at Patto. This was repeated to other journalists and in other forums too. Now, Parsvanath claims it has sanction to build a hotel on 3,150.20 square meters. Here's a shocker, the Panjim PDA says it has approved plans for a mall with a food court only. Parsvanath which has already gone to great expense to fence out (and 'typically' stationed security guards inside) its huge Patto Plaza property also cleverly erected an equally huge hoarding depicting (but without actually saying it) that a huge shopping mall will be built.
Typically, because builders follow a format: First, they erect a huge fence around the land to keep away prying eyes and not to prevent dust or debris spilling out as is popularly thought. Because, when construction actually begins, they care less about that as you can see happens in Panjim even at this moment. Then, at the last moment they erect the statutory board that gives details of the construction. In this case Parsvanath has not yet put up its board. But, it will soon, after this.
So, is Panjim heading for a complete collapse of its traffic system? Consider this. Soon the starred hotel at the St Inez traffic light junction will be ready. Then there's this huge Milroc Neurekar building complex (with an impressive high-rise and impressive fence) being built near the Police Headquarters; several more about to be readied and occupied. You bet the traffic congestion will get worse.
Feedback: 6658606, lionroars.goa@gmail.com)
Last week you read how Rs 1,59,68,204 of your tax money is at this moment being wasted on a project mysteriously called 'renovation of the garden at Rua De Ourem' in Panjim. There is no garden really, but that's old hat now. You also read how a duct is being built at a cost of Rs 77 lakh whose only purpose is to accommodate the telecommunication cables of various agencies. That was the first part conceived for the project. The second part described here, costing all of Rs 82 lakh, was conceived to create an additional pathway for pedestrians by extending the footpath/garden by 90 cms into the creek. This will be achieved by constructing reinforced concrete cement beams and slabs. And what do you know, there still won't be a garden, which is what I have been saying in the past two columns.
Led down the garden path
After all how much money can you make on plants etc? It is the concrete aspect that solidifies this and makes the big bucks move, if you get my drift. The funny thing as I said before, nobody uses this side of the road because it is sun drenched. Those who do walk in this rather isolated area, use the opposite footpath shaded by a long line of buildings etc. This is the side too where people park their cars because it has buildings and shops etc. Therefore, I don't see anybody using the car park planned on the other side. Why? Because, the narrow road, approximately 8-9 m wide simply won't accommodate cars parked either side. On the other hand, since drivers don't care any longer where they park, this could create one hell of a parking problem. I asked GSIDC, the perpetrators of this imbecilic idea if they had ever thought about shifting this equally misplaced parking lot to an appropriate place, they answered they had never thought of it. You won't, you simply can't when you don't appoint an architect to design a plan, but do things on your own.
Benchmark
Call it that, because KG Thomas, the contractor who apparently contrived to get this lucrative job, quoted Rs 2,60,000 to supply 13 concrete benches that will be placed on the footpath being built. So, now you will have vagabonds resting on these benches at night creating a nuisance for people waiting for the last bus to Margao. Or, the Corporation of the City of Panjim (what a glorified name for an organization that sleeps 24x7) might just be convinced to shift the radhiwallahs from the sacrosanct Azad Maidan and also persuade the cricket team of migrant workers to shift their club grounds from there to this new venue. There, could of course be worse uses for this. And meanwhile, amidst the costly extravaganza, the creek will continue to stink and be a breeding ground for mosquitoes becausing nobody thought of cleaning it.
Parsvanath, the builder of monolithic shopping malls across India announced it will build a 5-star hotel in what is left of Patto Plaza despite what EDC's MD assured me a long time ago that no hotel would be allowed to come up at Patto. This was repeated to other journalists and in other forums too. Now, Parsvanath claims it has sanction to build a hotel on 3,150.20 square meters. Here's a shocker, the Panjim PDA says it has approved plans for a mall with a food court only. Parsvanath which has already gone to great expense to fence out (and 'typically' stationed security guards inside) its huge Patto Plaza property also cleverly erected an equally huge hoarding depicting (but without actually saying it) that a huge shopping mall will be built.
Typically, because builders follow a format: First, they erect a huge fence around the land to keep away prying eyes and not to prevent dust or debris spilling out as is popularly thought. Because, when construction actually begins, they care less about that as you can see happens in Panjim even at this moment. Then, at the last moment they erect the statutory board that gives details of the construction. In this case Parsvanath has not yet put up its board. But, it will soon, after this.
So, is Panjim heading for a complete collapse of its traffic system? Consider this. Soon the starred hotel at the St Inez traffic light junction will be ready. Then there's this huge Milroc Neurekar building complex (with an impressive high-rise and impressive fence) being built near the Police Headquarters; several more about to be readied and occupied. You bet the traffic congestion will get worse.
Feedback: 6658606, lionroars.goa@gmail.com)
Friday, November 7, 2008
Garden of Eden - II
The Main Opera
Last week you read of Rs 1,59,68,204 being spent to renovate the existing footpath that none uses because it is on the creek side of Rua De Ourem in Panjim; and also the existing garden or so-called garden. Nobody walks on that side because each and every building or public utility is on the other side and as a result protects pedestrians from the sun. It therefore makes no sense renovating that side. What should surprise you even is the fact that GSIDC did not think it was necessary to consult the Town and Country Planning Department. Because it says there was no building construction involved. It just went ahead on a whim.
Earlier, Garden of Eden -1 explained how an entire charade was enacted to appoint a contractor. The actors were a Mumbai contractor who, the first time bought tender forms, but did not bid. There were two reluctant bidders in fact. The second time he tendered so high, he was bound to be rejected, which happened, forcing a third call. At the second call also, a Panjim contractor came on stage, made sure his bid was faulty and was rejected. At the third and final call, the same error- prone Panjim contractor, another Mumbai contractor and the eventual winner KG Thomas all bought tender forms, but only Thomas bid. The stage was set for the main opera. You say you suspect the other actors perhaps didn't exist? You could be right, you know. Only, there's also a modern word for it – cartelization.
Duct to nowhere
So, why would anybody want to spend so much money? It's like this. There is really no garden. There never was. It's all about spending money somehow and there's opportunity here. The entire project was cleverly divided into two parts. One part almost entirely consists of laying a duct to accommodate telecommunication cables of the various agencies. The duct could in future house electrical cables, broadband cables etc. The width of the duct varies from 1.2 to 1.7 mt depending on space availability. The duct is being built with concrete walls with moveable slabs made of glass fibre, reinforced concrete to cover it. The total length of the duct is 870 mt. Looks impressive on paper. But, at both ends of the duct, the cables emerging from it will be exposed (for eternity perhaps?) as they are everywhere else in Panjim. Because, the CCP has bigger problems confronting it, with very little spending money in the kitty.
Costly experiment
The GSIDC engineer I spoke to could not explain (no fault of his) the linkage of this duct with all such cables running through Panjim. He opined that the duct could be used as a model for laying other ducts elsewhere in Panjim. Yeah, right! Problem is, this experiment is costing you Rs 77 lakh. Or Rs 8850.57 per running meter. That's a lot for 870 mt worth of gain. GSIDC also said maintenance would be transferred to the CCP and it was up to them to maintain or prepare a model for maintenance. No wonder the GSIDC did not involve the Town and Country Planning Department (see Garden of Eden-1.) But, it made sure it got the CCP's NOC for this. GSIDC also did not appoint a consultant and drew up the proposal and plan itself. Clever! In the Congress' wisdom, this would fall in the category of its much 'beloved word' development.' You of course would be right if you wondered why this money was not spent in constructing even a single sub-way for Panjim so you could cross a busy road without fear of a hands-free driver crushing you. BTW a hands-free driver is one who holds his mobile in the right hand, gesticulates with his left trying to explain to himself what the listener can't understand, all the while thinking his vehicle is on auto drive. This strange syndrome, the thinking is, afflicts only men, and its intensity increases proportionately with the length and breadth of each corner or curve in the road. Nobody as yet knows why.
Do read next week and discover how the rest of the moneys is being spent and there still won't be a garden.
(Next week: Garden of Eden -111 and last)
(Feedback: 6658606, lionroars.goa@gmail.com)
Last week you read of Rs 1,59,68,204 being spent to renovate the existing footpath that none uses because it is on the creek side of Rua De Ourem in Panjim; and also the existing garden or so-called garden. Nobody walks on that side because each and every building or public utility is on the other side and as a result protects pedestrians from the sun. It therefore makes no sense renovating that side. What should surprise you even is the fact that GSIDC did not think it was necessary to consult the Town and Country Planning Department. Because it says there was no building construction involved. It just went ahead on a whim.
Earlier, Garden of Eden -1 explained how an entire charade was enacted to appoint a contractor. The actors were a Mumbai contractor who, the first time bought tender forms, but did not bid. There were two reluctant bidders in fact. The second time he tendered so high, he was bound to be rejected, which happened, forcing a third call. At the second call also, a Panjim contractor came on stage, made sure his bid was faulty and was rejected. At the third and final call, the same error- prone Panjim contractor, another Mumbai contractor and the eventual winner KG Thomas all bought tender forms, but only Thomas bid. The stage was set for the main opera. You say you suspect the other actors perhaps didn't exist? You could be right, you know. Only, there's also a modern word for it – cartelization.
Duct to nowhere
So, why would anybody want to spend so much money? It's like this. There is really no garden. There never was. It's all about spending money somehow and there's opportunity here. The entire project was cleverly divided into two parts. One part almost entirely consists of laying a duct to accommodate telecommunication cables of the various agencies. The duct could in future house electrical cables, broadband cables etc. The width of the duct varies from 1.2 to 1.7 mt depending on space availability. The duct is being built with concrete walls with moveable slabs made of glass fibre, reinforced concrete to cover it. The total length of the duct is 870 mt. Looks impressive on paper. But, at both ends of the duct, the cables emerging from it will be exposed (for eternity perhaps?) as they are everywhere else in Panjim. Because, the CCP has bigger problems confronting it, with very little spending money in the kitty.
Costly experiment
The GSIDC engineer I spoke to could not explain (no fault of his) the linkage of this duct with all such cables running through Panjim. He opined that the duct could be used as a model for laying other ducts elsewhere in Panjim. Yeah, right! Problem is, this experiment is costing you Rs 77 lakh. Or Rs 8850.57 per running meter. That's a lot for 870 mt worth of gain. GSIDC also said maintenance would be transferred to the CCP and it was up to them to maintain or prepare a model for maintenance. No wonder the GSIDC did not involve the Town and Country Planning Department (see Garden of Eden-1.) But, it made sure it got the CCP's NOC for this. GSIDC also did not appoint a consultant and drew up the proposal and plan itself. Clever! In the Congress' wisdom, this would fall in the category of its much 'beloved word' development.' You of course would be right if you wondered why this money was not spent in constructing even a single sub-way for Panjim so you could cross a busy road without fear of a hands-free driver crushing you. BTW a hands-free driver is one who holds his mobile in the right hand, gesticulates with his left trying to explain to himself what the listener can't understand, all the while thinking his vehicle is on auto drive. This strange syndrome, the thinking is, afflicts only men, and its intensity increases proportionately with the length and breadth of each corner or curve in the road. Nobody as yet knows why.
Do read next week and discover how the rest of the moneys is being spent and there still won't be a garden.
(Next week: Garden of Eden -111 and last)
(Feedback: 6658606, lionroars.goa@gmail.com)
Garden of Eden - 1
Laying it on thick
You need to have an imagination for what I am about to reveal, and imagination you have. You just gotta to have it in Goa. Imagine just how little it would take to renovate a garden of 570 sq m. Then imagine, your government is currently spending Rs 1,59,68,204.24 to renovate it because of the Panjim MLA Manohar Parrikar. Now after this colossal figure was conjured and configured, the imagination (this time) of the planners in government went into overdrive. For those who live deep south or up north, the garden is at Rua De Ourem, at Panjim's old entrance and exit road. This once popular area of Panjim is now used by pedestrians to exit and enter the KTC bus stand. Nothing more!
This is how the garden deal unfurled. On 24 April 2008 the scheduled date of opening the tender, there were no responses for the first call though two bidders, one who came from Mumbai; bought tenders forms. They were My Associates of Andheri (W) Mumbai and Bhella Constuctions of Ponda. At the next call, two bidders purchased the tender forms: My Associates (again) and A. Ponnuraj of Panjim. Now, why would My Associates try a second time when it refused to bid the first time despite buying the tender forms? Beats me.
Beyond Reasonable Doubt
On 5 May 2008 the scheduled day of the second call, A. Ponnuraj was disqualified as his EMD (earnest money deposit) was not submitted as per rules. Surprise, surprise! We have here an experienced contractor (the rule states a contractor must completed pre-specified high-worth jobs in the last 5 yrs) who appears incapable of completing a mere EMD formality! This time however My Associates after appearing to be reluctant the first time, quoted Rs 2,00,63,649.50. The figure brought down 2.5 % by the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) to Rs 1,95,62,058. It was however still 68.48% higher than the GSIDC estimated cost of Rs 1,16,10,674 and 39.24% above the reasonable (of GSIDC again) amount of Rs 1,40,48,719.97. If you have not comprehended this jargon, estimated cost is what the GSIDC knows is the estimated cost going by market calculations. Reasonable cost, I guess is, if the contractor is unreasonable enough to quote above the estimated, it requires GSIDC to be reasonable and make unreasonable look reasonable. Remember, I warned you to wear your imagination cap before you read this. So, don't blame me, if this sounds weird. It is. As a result, My Associates' bid was rejected because it was too high.
Beyond The Call Of Duty
Now, this is where your imagination truly gets stretched like India rubber. In response to the third call, A. Ponnuraj made a second comeback. This time however KG Thomas of Panjim and New Park Sun Gardens of Mahim, Mumbai join the game. But on the scheduled day of the opening 28 May 2008, mysteriously only KG Thomas bids. Does this not stretch your imagination? You have Mumbai's My Associates who drops by twice (1st & 2nd call) but does not bid the first time. The second time, it bids so high, it is bound to be rejected. Then you have A. Ponnuraj who buys the tender forms twice (2nd & 3rd call) makes a silly (tactical perhaps?) error the first call, then does not bid at the 3rd call. You would think Ponnuraj would want to make amends. No? Finally, you have New Park Sun Gardens from Mumbai who suddenly enters the field at the fag end (3rd call) but does not bid. Not to mention Bhella Constructions, who apparently didn't want to play ball at all.
The Games Begin
The tactical maneuvering done, KG Thomas waltzes into the scene, and there's a chest full of silver dollars to be dug out of the garden. The only bidder left now is him. He bids Rs 1,72,62,923.50, then agrees to negotiate his quote despite being the only bidder left in the arena. Blows my mind away! So, he reduces his bid by 7.5 % and his quote is now Rs 1,59,68,204.24. The negotiated offer is 9.94% above the reasonable amount of Rs 1,45,24,697.48 and 37.53% above the estimated cost put to tender (pun not intended) that is Rs 1,16,10,674. This makes GSIDC really pleased because it promptly claims the offer made in the third call is Rs 35,93,854 (Rs 1,95,62,058 minus Rs 1,59,68,204) lesser than the offer it received in the second call. Do make a note also that GSIDC's reasonable amount has by now risen from Rs 1,40,48,719.97 to Rs 1,45,24,697.48. It doesn't end here.
(Next week: Garden of Eden -11)
(Feedback: 6658606, lionroars.goa@gmail.com)
You need to have an imagination for what I am about to reveal, and imagination you have. You just gotta to have it in Goa. Imagine just how little it would take to renovate a garden of 570 sq m. Then imagine, your government is currently spending Rs 1,59,68,204.24 to renovate it because of the Panjim MLA Manohar Parrikar. Now after this colossal figure was conjured and configured, the imagination (this time) of the planners in government went into overdrive. For those who live deep south or up north, the garden is at Rua De Ourem, at Panjim's old entrance and exit road. This once popular area of Panjim is now used by pedestrians to exit and enter the KTC bus stand. Nothing more!
This is how the garden deal unfurled. On 24 April 2008 the scheduled date of opening the tender, there were no responses for the first call though two bidders, one who came from Mumbai; bought tenders forms. They were My Associates of Andheri (W) Mumbai and Bhella Constuctions of Ponda. At the next call, two bidders purchased the tender forms: My Associates (again) and A. Ponnuraj of Panjim. Now, why would My Associates try a second time when it refused to bid the first time despite buying the tender forms? Beats me.
Beyond Reasonable Doubt
On 5 May 2008 the scheduled day of the second call, A. Ponnuraj was disqualified as his EMD (earnest money deposit) was not submitted as per rules. Surprise, surprise! We have here an experienced contractor (the rule states a contractor must completed pre-specified high-worth jobs in the last 5 yrs) who appears incapable of completing a mere EMD formality! This time however My Associates after appearing to be reluctant the first time, quoted Rs 2,00,63,649.50. The figure brought down 2.5 % by the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) to Rs 1,95,62,058. It was however still 68.48% higher than the GSIDC estimated cost of Rs 1,16,10,674 and 39.24% above the reasonable (of GSIDC again) amount of Rs 1,40,48,719.97. If you have not comprehended this jargon, estimated cost is what the GSIDC knows is the estimated cost going by market calculations. Reasonable cost, I guess is, if the contractor is unreasonable enough to quote above the estimated, it requires GSIDC to be reasonable and make unreasonable look reasonable. Remember, I warned you to wear your imagination cap before you read this. So, don't blame me, if this sounds weird. It is. As a result, My Associates' bid was rejected because it was too high.
Beyond The Call Of Duty
Now, this is where your imagination truly gets stretched like India rubber. In response to the third call, A. Ponnuraj made a second comeback. This time however KG Thomas of Panjim and New Park Sun Gardens of Mahim, Mumbai join the game. But on the scheduled day of the opening 28 May 2008, mysteriously only KG Thomas bids. Does this not stretch your imagination? You have Mumbai's My Associates who drops by twice (1st & 2nd call) but does not bid the first time. The second time, it bids so high, it is bound to be rejected. Then you have A. Ponnuraj who buys the tender forms twice (2nd & 3rd call) makes a silly (tactical perhaps?) error the first call, then does not bid at the 3rd call. You would think Ponnuraj would want to make amends. No? Finally, you have New Park Sun Gardens from Mumbai who suddenly enters the field at the fag end (3rd call) but does not bid. Not to mention Bhella Constructions, who apparently didn't want to play ball at all.
The Games Begin
The tactical maneuvering done, KG Thomas waltzes into the scene, and there's a chest full of silver dollars to be dug out of the garden. The only bidder left now is him. He bids Rs 1,72,62,923.50, then agrees to negotiate his quote despite being the only bidder left in the arena. Blows my mind away! So, he reduces his bid by 7.5 % and his quote is now Rs 1,59,68,204.24. The negotiated offer is 9.94% above the reasonable amount of Rs 1,45,24,697.48 and 37.53% above the estimated cost put to tender (pun not intended) that is Rs 1,16,10,674. This makes GSIDC really pleased because it promptly claims the offer made in the third call is Rs 35,93,854 (Rs 1,95,62,058 minus Rs 1,59,68,204) lesser than the offer it received in the second call. Do make a note also that GSIDC's reasonable amount has by now risen from Rs 1,40,48,719.97 to Rs 1,45,24,697.48. It doesn't end here.
(Next week: Garden of Eden -11)
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Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Is Goa Ready for IT?
Mirror, mirror, on the wall…
Someone said the other day, why are you after these poor IAS chaps – they after all have to obey your montris or get transferred out. The former finance secretary Ramesh Negi was actually among three secretaries called in by Sheila Dixit, the Dilli CM. The other two names (not from Goa) won't interest you. It's another matter he wanted out for personal reasons. Ravi Naik transferred out Ujjwal Mishra, Goa's de facto ex-top cop because he was Rane's man and therefore a threat. It goes on and on and you could argue whether the IAS has a spine – ex-CS Kiran Dhingra did and was transferred out. But, there you are, what's the point of it all?
Who's the fairest …….
Point is a very learned man (but must stay anonymous) said this: "There was a clarion call made by Dayanand Narvekar about building an IT park with your tax money. Is Goa really ready for this project? There is a lot of hot air generated about the abundance of jobs this will create." Does the IAS ever put up a semblance of a fight even? I can tell you even that Narvekar's and Parrikar's sons studied in the US of A compounding the hypocrisy all round.
Point he made is: are Goans trained to handle this job profile? To that Narvekar said "they will be trained." Well then isn't it the better suggestion to train them first, than build the IT park? Why should the park be built first? That essentially would mean we have an IT park with no Goans to fit the bill. This vaccuum will then be filled by personnel imported from outside Goa while the intended personnel from Goa are presumably trained. But when our Goan youth are ready with the necessary qualifications, what do we do with the original set of workers? To his mind, the charade was a scam with the objective of letting tax money flow where it has always flowed. Down the drain.
Here's another point to ponder. I tried under RTI to get the cost of ridding the Porvorim landslide of all the mud and debris. Unsure, as an ordinary citizen would be, as to which particular division (among the PWD's maze of divisions etc) I did the next best thing and filed on September 30 an RTI questionnaire with the Principal Chief Engineer in Altinho. After being given the usual run around of a minimum of two counters, I landed up at the desk of a woman with braided hair, who disdainfully shoed me away. Till the friendly male next to her intervened and accepted my application. My subsequent investigations revealed the PWD has cleverly not appointed specific Public Information Officers, and as a result, RTI applications are forwarded to a nodal officer, who may or may not then forward your application to the concerned PIO. All other ministries I have run into have clearly identified PIOs. The tourism department even has one each for the south and north! So, await some interesting details in this column, it'll be worth the wait. Talk about delays.
In any other land, the mess would have been cleared in a matter of three months, considering it was plum bang opposite the Secretariat, the seat of power. However, although the landslide occurred last June, till now they are still trying to remedy it. That is all of 15 months! The amount of labour and public funds wasted boggles the mind. Are we to assume the people in authority have no conception of the amount of resources, manpower and time needed to clear the debris? If they did, why did it take so long (and ongoing still)?
Amongst us all…
So, let's go back to the fun of the joystick. Jayshree Raghuraman's flying costs to you between 18 April 2002-12 July 2005 was Rs 7,10,692. Apart from the Dilli routine she flew to France between 14-24 May 2003 (cost Rs 1,65,116). BS Bhalla spent a huge Rs 10,29,720 flying in a rather short period of 14 November 2002- 28 September 2004. He seems to have gone on a world tour in 2003 taking in Berlin (Rs 1,01,145) and Toronto, Singapore, Hong Kong and the US (cost Rs 3,73,005). Vijay Madan spent Rs 5,29,627 of your hard money between 14 January 2003-6 March 2005 taking off to US/Canada twice and once to Lisbon incurring an expenditure of Rs 7,43,109. Dharmendra Sharma spent Rs 4,20,099 of his total expenditure of Rs 7,36,633 flying off to Boston in the US. That's more than several other IAS officers spent flying during their Goa tenures.
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Friday, October 3, 2008
A fat bill
Run(away) costs so far;
J P Singh: 2 February 2006-10 October 2007 Rs 17,43,663
RP Pal 11 September 2005-29 October 2007 Rs 8,24,733
JK Dadoo 30 July 2005-7 September 2006 Rs 11,04,312
Total: 36,72,708
Ramesh Negi
The man who was supposed to care for your tax-money because he was the finance secretary actually went ahead and splurged it instead flying 32 times , mostly to Dilli, between 23 February 2006 and 22 November 2007 at a cost to you of Rs 7,80,800. Why do I say cost to you? Because, nowadays corporates assess you while hiring on the basis of cost to company or CTC. In this all the variables like house rent, travelling allowance etc. that your earlier employer paid you are factored in. That's how they decide how much to pay you. This of course is made easy because all corporates have a proper accounting system, well at least of their employees; thus every penny they spend on you is transparent. Wish this could be said for our New Age rulers.
VK Jha
He spent Rs 5,78,395 between 9 April 2006 and 26 October 2007 flying up in the air not flapping his wings but not being the wind beneath your wings either. But what must have taken some doing is the fact that he flew to Chennai between 18 April-12 May 2006 (cost Rs 30,203) and on 9 April, 5 June and 7 June 2006 to Delhi (cost Rs 63,102) returning to base in a hurry only to take off to China between 18-27 June 2006 (cost Rs 1,38,675.) Phew! And at that cost you can bet he didn't fly solo to China. Jha who apparently had a thing for jetting off frequently, flew quickly again, this time to Russia, between 16-27 September 2006. Between 28 April 2006 and 7 May 2007 he flew to Dubai (cost Rs 98,262.) In other words, Rs 3,58,596 of the cost of keeping him airborne was consumed by his foreign trips. And you thought they homed in only on Dilli.
Diwan Chand
He spent Rs 2,95,046 between 9 April 2006 and 26 October 2007 flying only to Dilli.
Santosh Vaidya
Better known for the havoc he and Ramesh Negi as chief election commissioner caused to most candidates caught red-handed for greasing palms in the last election, Santosh Vaidya spent Rs 3,27,105 between 16 June 2006 and 20 July 2007. He flew once to Hungary spending a week at a cost to you (CTY) of Rs 1,65,000. Whatever happened to all those cases though?
The Janson connection
Let's digress a bit. BSNL finally got back on track with its broadband scheme after countless postponements at least in areas it had not covered before or that were not close to its primary exchanges. But the rackets within this government behemoth continue to move forward smoothly. So, when I went to its commercial office in Panjim to hand in my broadband application, a certain clerk sitting next to the entry clerk informed me BSNL had run out of modems, but if I went to a certain Jansons in St. Inez they would sell me the required modem. He then produced Jansons visiting card and gave me the co-ordinates. Any other information you ask on BSNL itself gets stuck somewhere down his throat, but ask him about Jansons in St. Inez and he gushes forth.
Accident waiting to happen
It's official. There is going to be a tragedy in the Mandovi this season. Following one more mysterious overnight entry of yet another casino boat, they are literally lining up waiting for docking space. But where's the docking space? Here's the scene and it could end up looking like a serial pile up on a highway in America you see on your TV screen. The trip incentives barge crew get make them reckless and caused the sinking of at least one barge last year. Just like trucks carrying iron ore whose drivers only look at the trip incentives they can earn and not at the road. There's this huge and wide casino boat made from wood, yes wood, that takes up more space than the others. There are a few more smaller and therefore faster tourist boats this season. The Old Goa jetty, where barges forced out of Panjim now halt, actually trembles every time barges are tethered to it. It shakes and rumbles, believe me. It's all there and like the Scarlett tragedy, waiting to happen.
IAS and the Joystick
Yes, Yes, I know they have that Maharaja-type allowance that is probably as hefty as the old privy purse India's erstwhile rulers were entitled to and Indira Gandhi abolished. But you would expect our New Age rulers to – well, after all, in India they are comparable to the ruling class ie the combination of political class and the bureaucrats. There is of course the moneyed class who control the puppet strings in some way and influence the former. Anybody outside these three classes is the sucker class or the ruled. You would and despite all I have been saying, think that our bureaucrats would at least make an attempt to fly around less. The thought made you a fool, as my teacher was fond of saying. Take a look.
AUTO PILOT
J P Singh
His flying to Delhi mainly between 2 February 2006 and 10 October 2007 cost Rs 17,43,663. That is a lot of flying in a short period. This included Rs 2,44,509 spent jetting to France and Portugal and Rs 3,73,499 to fly to the Big Apple. Some people have their apple and eat it too, if you get my drift. Dare I add, despite 9/11 when the world changed and the Big Apple changed forever, losing two of its symbols of economic power. But for our bureaucrats, economic power comes from the taxes you and I pay.
RP Pal
The Bong with the huge Bang to spend your tax money, spent Rs 8,24,733 flying literally with permission to take off by Ground Control. Because while his brethren could enforce the need-to-fly-to-Delhi clause in their defense of flying to the capital where India's ultimate rulers preside over them, Pal chose instead to fly where he fancied – Sydney and Andamans and like a homing pigeon he headed to Kolkatta frequently. His flying expense included Rs 2,19,719 to go to Sydney. He spent Rs 1,43,600 to fly to Port Blair in the Andamans between 17-18 July 2006, quite obviously with family or friends. Poor Pal, he had to return the same day. That must have taken him some doing because there are no direct flights to the island which was known only for its tribals till the tsunami in 2004 that wrought havoc there. Either that or, the RTI data on the dates is wrong. He also spent Rs 53,519 flying directly to Port Blair returning via Kolkata and Mumbai this time on 22-29 October 2007. Pal returned to the Kolkata he missed so badly, on 6-10 November 2005, on 5-10 December 2005, on 29 March-1 April 2006, on 8-16 May 2006, on 31 August-5 September 2007, 23-24 March 2007 for a day only, and on 30 July-30 August 2007 for an entire month this time, evidently returning only after exhausting his love for the city. These seven trips to Kolkata cost Rs2,23,167 and does not include the one flight from Port Blair to Kolkata. Pal, who recently was in the news for all the wrong reasons, flew 21 times in the time researched 11 September 2005-29 October 2007
JK Dadoo
A former Developement Comissioner and also acting Chief Secretary, he did his damndest to fly to Delhi only billing you Rs 11,04,312. Incredibly the man flew only once between Delhi-Hyderabad and once between Daman-Delhi. Or was it actually credible, because I think Dadoo the Big Daddy of planning holidays abroad was saving up for his flight to Iran between 5-15 November 2005. Cost: Rs 1,01,000. He had Rs 6,77,496 (that's right) to spare to fly off to Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico between 21 April-5 May 2006. The only other foreign frequent flier I can think of as a result of my research is the non –resident or barely resident, Commissioner for NRI Affairs, Eduardo Faleiro. I researched Dadoo's flying habits from 30 July 2005-7 September 2006 and in this short span of 13 months and a week discovered he flew 23 times! The man was barely at his desk preferring the pressurized cabin air of an aircraft to the regulated air (thanks to air-conditioners) inside his own cabin at the Secretariat.
Now consider this. If you factor in Pal's and Dadoo's hotel, internal travel, food, gift and entertainment expenses incurred during their travels, you might seriously want to become Kamikazi pilots–the Japanese WWII pilots who flew their bomb-laden aircraft into allied warships. In a short period (November 2005-May 2006) I also researched his eating habits and Dadoo spent Rs 2,53,271 entertaining government secretaries etc including this huge one; spending Rs 1,20,850 on a farewell dinner for Kiran Dingra (ex-CS) at the Taj Holiday Village on 22 January 2006. Chew on that.
(Next week: More on IAS)
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AUTO PILOT
J P Singh
His flying to Delhi mainly between 2 February 2006 and 10 October 2007 cost Rs 17,43,663. That is a lot of flying in a short period. This included Rs 2,44,509 spent jetting to France and Portugal and Rs 3,73,499 to fly to the Big Apple. Some people have their apple and eat it too, if you get my drift. Dare I add, despite 9/11 when the world changed and the Big Apple changed forever, losing two of its symbols of economic power. But for our bureaucrats, economic power comes from the taxes you and I pay.
RP Pal
The Bong with the huge Bang to spend your tax money, spent Rs 8,24,733 flying literally with permission to take off by Ground Control. Because while his brethren could enforce the need-to-fly-to-Delhi clause in their defense of flying to the capital where India's ultimate rulers preside over them, Pal chose instead to fly where he fancied – Sydney and Andamans and like a homing pigeon he headed to Kolkatta frequently. His flying expense included Rs 2,19,719 to go to Sydney. He spent Rs 1,43,600 to fly to Port Blair in the Andamans between 17-18 July 2006, quite obviously with family or friends. Poor Pal, he had to return the same day. That must have taken him some doing because there are no direct flights to the island which was known only for its tribals till the tsunami in 2004 that wrought havoc there. Either that or, the RTI data on the dates is wrong. He also spent Rs 53,519 flying directly to Port Blair returning via Kolkata and Mumbai this time on 22-29 October 2007. Pal returned to the Kolkata he missed so badly, on 6-10 November 2005, on 5-10 December 2005, on 29 March-1 April 2006, on 8-16 May 2006, on 31 August-5 September 2007, 23-24 March 2007 for a day only, and on 30 July-30 August 2007 for an entire month this time, evidently returning only after exhausting his love for the city. These seven trips to Kolkata cost Rs2,23,167 and does not include the one flight from Port Blair to Kolkata. Pal, who recently was in the news for all the wrong reasons, flew 21 times in the time researched 11 September 2005-29 October 2007
JK Dadoo
A former Developement Comissioner and also acting Chief Secretary, he did his damndest to fly to Delhi only billing you Rs 11,04,312. Incredibly the man flew only once between Delhi-Hyderabad and once between Daman-Delhi. Or was it actually credible, because I think Dadoo the Big Daddy of planning holidays abroad was saving up for his flight to Iran between 5-15 November 2005. Cost: Rs 1,01,000. He had Rs 6,77,496 (that's right) to spare to fly off to Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico between 21 April-5 May 2006. The only other foreign frequent flier I can think of as a result of my research is the non –resident or barely resident, Commissioner for NRI Affairs, Eduardo Faleiro. I researched Dadoo's flying habits from 30 July 2005-7 September 2006 and in this short span of 13 months and a week discovered he flew 23 times! The man was barely at his desk preferring the pressurized cabin air of an aircraft to the regulated air (thanks to air-conditioners) inside his own cabin at the Secretariat.
Now consider this. If you factor in Pal's and Dadoo's hotel, internal travel, food, gift and entertainment expenses incurred during their travels, you might seriously want to become Kamikazi pilots–the Japanese WWII pilots who flew their bomb-laden aircraft into allied warships. In a short period (November 2005-May 2006) I also researched his eating habits and Dadoo spent Rs 2,53,271 entertaining government secretaries etc including this huge one; spending Rs 1,20,850 on a farewell dinner for Kiran Dingra (ex-CS) at the Taj Holiday Village on 22 January 2006. Chew on that.
(Next week: More on IAS)
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Friday, September 19, 2008
The Grape Escape - Final
Wine, Women and Song
In part II you read how GTDC crossed all auditing standards in accepting a bill of Rs 3,66,750 crafted by Crosscraft Pvt Ltd, Rs 3,25,000 of which was billed without explanation and as a consolidated figure for services rendered by it. This and other astonishing facts I mentioned proved GTDC showed utter contempt for both the tax payer and audit rules because with the exception of two suppliers, the rest submitted bills on letter heads or were casually handwritten and without VAT deductions.
The Entertainment Society of Goa which a couple of years ago had to reach deep down into its bag of tricks, coming out with this magical phrase 'adaptive reuse' finally got adept at adaptive reuse. It hired out what is loosely called the Inox courtyard, which many erroneously think Inox owns, for a fee of Rs1,13,438.
For many the annual Grape Escapade is a social outings that is a must on the social calendar and quaffing wine they consider the elixir of life the ultimate experience. They, of course, would call this probe a case of sour grapes (pun intended). The bittersweet truth however is as follows:
-GTDC raised a bill on the Tourism Department charging it Rs 1,00,000 for travelling and transportation; Rs 1,00,000 for staff involvement; and Rs 1,96,544 as administrative charges. Goodness knows, what the difference is between staff involvement and administrative charges, but if you have any unused imagination left, you figure it out. As for me, it's a case of, as the Bard put it so well, a rose by any other name…. By the way, these expenses tote up to Rs3,96,544 which is the single largest expenditure after Crosscraft's Rs3,66,750, the Rs 2,29,474 spent on advertising i.e., Rs 1,83,648 advertising in the local papers plus the Rs 45,826 Midday ad (all advertising done through Sean AdEvent) or the Rs 1,69,000 spent to hire entertainers.
-Next, recall the two pre-receipted bills GTDC submitted to the Tourism Department which bankrolled the extravaganza; one for Rs 15,00,000 and the second for Rs 11,03,456. The difference if you subtract the latter figure from the former is Rs 3,96,544. In other words the GTDC never intended to refund this Rs 3,96,544 for which it had no supporting bills because it just did not spend that money. As the saying goes, when the going gets tough, the GTDC gets going. In fact, there is no mention of this Rs3,96,544 expense in the statement of bills GTDC submitted to the Tourism Department which has a total of 27 items. It did however, as I said, submit this expenditure also as a pre-receipted bill dated 8 March 2007 to the Tourism Department which is how I got it. That leaves you with one last disturbing question to ask. Does the government really do any serious auditing of your tax money?
-A total of Rs 169,000 was paid to 13 entertainers including Rs 40,000 to a group of Russian dancers who turned out to be the highest paid. But, before you get all hot under the collar, remember there is no evidence to show exactly how much was actually paid to them because I believe the GTDC itself cannot. You see, it did not actually pay them directly. It did however submit a barely legible handwritten statement of payments made to all the entertainers including two payments of Rs 25,000 and Rs 15,000 made to a certain John Pinheiro on behalf of the Russian dancers. By the way, 13 entertainers were hired to entertain over the three nights! None of them submitted any bills, they each (the remaining 12 that is) simply signed a GTDC voucher and as they sang, danced or pranced all the way to the bank. Beats laughing all the way to the bank, if that's any comfort to you.
That's why I called this series The Grape Escape!
(Next week: IAS officers on a joy ride
Feedback: 9822152164, 6658606, lionroars.goa@gmail.com)
In part II you read how GTDC crossed all auditing standards in accepting a bill of Rs 3,66,750 crafted by Crosscraft Pvt Ltd, Rs 3,25,000 of which was billed without explanation and as a consolidated figure for services rendered by it. This and other astonishing facts I mentioned proved GTDC showed utter contempt for both the tax payer and audit rules because with the exception of two suppliers, the rest submitted bills on letter heads or were casually handwritten and without VAT deductions.
The Entertainment Society of Goa which a couple of years ago had to reach deep down into its bag of tricks, coming out with this magical phrase 'adaptive reuse' finally got adept at adaptive reuse. It hired out what is loosely called the Inox courtyard, which many erroneously think Inox owns, for a fee of Rs1,13,438.
For many the annual Grape Escapade is a social outings that is a must on the social calendar and quaffing wine they consider the elixir of life the ultimate experience. They, of course, would call this probe a case of sour grapes (pun intended). The bittersweet truth however is as follows:
-GTDC raised a bill on the Tourism Department charging it Rs 1,00,000 for travelling and transportation; Rs 1,00,000 for staff involvement; and Rs 1,96,544 as administrative charges. Goodness knows, what the difference is between staff involvement and administrative charges, but if you have any unused imagination left, you figure it out. As for me, it's a case of, as the Bard put it so well, a rose by any other name…. By the way, these expenses tote up to Rs3,96,544 which is the single largest expenditure after Crosscraft's Rs3,66,750, the Rs 2,29,474 spent on advertising i.e., Rs 1,83,648 advertising in the local papers plus the Rs 45,826 Midday ad (all advertising done through Sean AdEvent) or the Rs 1,69,000 spent to hire entertainers.
-Next, recall the two pre-receipted bills GTDC submitted to the Tourism Department which bankrolled the extravaganza; one for Rs 15,00,000 and the second for Rs 11,03,456. The difference if you subtract the latter figure from the former is Rs 3,96,544. In other words the GTDC never intended to refund this Rs 3,96,544 for which it had no supporting bills because it just did not spend that money. As the saying goes, when the going gets tough, the GTDC gets going. In fact, there is no mention of this Rs3,96,544 expense in the statement of bills GTDC submitted to the Tourism Department which has a total of 27 items. It did however, as I said, submit this expenditure also as a pre-receipted bill dated 8 March 2007 to the Tourism Department which is how I got it. That leaves you with one last disturbing question to ask. Does the government really do any serious auditing of your tax money?
-A total of Rs 169,000 was paid to 13 entertainers including Rs 40,000 to a group of Russian dancers who turned out to be the highest paid. But, before you get all hot under the collar, remember there is no evidence to show exactly how much was actually paid to them because I believe the GTDC itself cannot. You see, it did not actually pay them directly. It did however submit a barely legible handwritten statement of payments made to all the entertainers including two payments of Rs 25,000 and Rs 15,000 made to a certain John Pinheiro on behalf of the Russian dancers. By the way, 13 entertainers were hired to entertain over the three nights! None of them submitted any bills, they each (the remaining 12 that is) simply signed a GTDC voucher and as they sang, danced or pranced all the way to the bank. Beats laughing all the way to the bank, if that's any comfort to you.
That's why I called this series The Grape Escape!
(Next week: IAS officers on a joy ride
Feedback: 9822152164, 6658606, lionroars.goa@gmail.com)
Thursday, September 11, 2008
The Grape Escape - II
VAT an Idea!
You read last week how the Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) which has always looked like a corporation for self-advancement of its self and the tourism ministry; placed an ad on the Mid-Day, a paper that is called an eveninger, hardly the medium you would want to advertise a local event. How Rs 23,296 was spent to buy flexible hoardings and another Rs 10,088 to buy printed flex on frame. How Rs 35,000 was spent on 'Grape Escapade advertising and publicity campaign' and Rs 3,000 billed for 'Grape Escapade additional hoarding charge.' It would of course never occur to GTDC that all this is totally unnecessary because at the most it was only the people of Panjim who went to the event more out of curiosity, then expectation. How could they, when they have to be flexible with your tax money? And you learnt also that GTDC prefers the printing done in Kolaphur to the extent it printed its invitation cards there.
It gets better this week because I learnt that Crosscraft Pvt. Ltd charged Rs 3,66,750 for the stage, light effects, tables, chairs, intelligent lights, stalls and generator backup. Though Crosscraft's bill claims it supplied 100 tables, GTDC submitted the Tourism Department a second bill from Indira Decorators & Sound System for providing 30 tables at a cost of Rs 5100. This is far cheaper, if you compare it with Crosscraft had it of course provided a breakup of its services which was not the case. But it wasn't prepared too naturally.
In fact, in Crosscraft's bill made out for a consolidated Rs 3,66,750, the only itemized costs are Rs 38,000 for the 125 KVA generator and Rs 3750 for balloons it supplied (Iam truly blown away by this exhorbitant cost.) The breakup of the balance Rs 3,25,000, I guess was left to the imagination of the government auditors. Astonishingly, in none of the many bills I have in hand has VAT been added, except in the bills submitted by Midway Trading Co and the printer. Look at it this way, they waste your tax money trusting you not to object. You haven't so far, so why bother now, when they don't pay taxes. Several bills in fact were merely handwritten on letterheads revealing the barest of details.
It gets better. Henry's Music Café billed GTDC Rs10,500 for providing a projector and screen. That's what its bill no 570 proves abundantly. In the statement of bills GTDC submitted to the Tourism Department, item no. 23 of the statement is testimony to that too. However, item no. 24 declares that a generator was also provided by Henry's Music Café. No cost is mentioned and no explanation, given either, why? Was GTDC using rare hindsight trying to cover up any future queries? Question is, since Crosscraft provided a generator was there a need for a second one?
Here's some more sound logic for the government internal auditors and the Comptroller Auditor General of India. Henry's Music Café also billed (bill no. 568) GTDC Rs 60,000 for providing a sound system (Rs 45,000) and a generator Rs15,000.) But in its statement of bills against item no. 4 GTDC billed the Tourism Department a consolidated sum of Rs 60,000 and Rs 12,000 (item no. 5) for hiring an additional sound system. But there is no mention of this in the relevant bill of Henry's Music Café (bill no. 568.) Eventually, both Henry's Music café bills and the GTDC's statement of bills add up to Rs 82,500, but the point I am trying to make here is these basic errors in the statement of bills proves there is little to talk about the accounting methods of GTDC. Leave out the criminal wastage of it. Or, is it that we are as deaf as we are seemingly dumb. Moot (or should I say mute) point eh?
And finally, at the Malar Bonderam in Divar, Churchill Alemao extolled people to fight for Konkani in the Romi script. Do you think he forgot where he was because we all thought the Bonderam is about festivity.
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The Grape Escape - I
If you wondered how easy it was for all our montris to jet across the planet in the series called 'Those Magnificent Men (one Woman) in Their Magnificent Flying Machines' concluded in August, this one for its sheer audacity should make your hackles rise. Well, kind of at least, because I know nothing shocks you any longer. This investigation called the 'Grape Escape' probes the GTDC organized Grape Escapade. Strange are the ways of government, that for the event held between 13-15 February 2007 a pre-receipted bill for Rs 15,00,000 dated 8 March 2007 was issued by GTDC to the Tourism Department. A second pre-receipted bill with the same date was made out for Rs 11,03,456.
Earlier, on 20 December 2007 after learning that GTDC had virtually no bills to back this huge expenditure and which it had to produce to the Tourism Department that bankrolled the whole extravaganza, I asked the department for information under the RTI Act. It took the department several months to coax GTDC into submitting the bills and information I asked for, some of which was given to me much after 25 July 2008, the date that is recorded on some answers which were officially handed over to me. Why, were both the pre-receipts dated 3 March 2007? Weird as it appears, this is the way the government functions. I must add too that the Tourism Department is perhaps the only government agency with two officials designated as Public Information Officers, for the south and north separately. Work that one out for yourself, if you can.
But, the real scrutiny begins here. Because, for an event ostensibly held to popularize local wines (this is what the first event promised, but deviated from later) an advertisement was placed in Mumbai's Midday! Midday, mind you is an afternoon newspaper popularized by Mumbai's millions of mainly non-wine drinking working class train commuters, and yet the GTDC thought it was appropriate to advertise in it. Guess what too? Rs 45,000 was spent advertising in the Midday as early as 6 January 2007. Was GTDC giving those train commuters enough time to prepare for a short wine drinking sojourn to Goa? That's a thought. But for your information, none of them came. Grape Escape, exactly!
A company called Midway Trading Co billed GTDC Rs 23,296 to supply it printed flexible hoardings. It submitted a second bill for Rs 10,088, this time for printed flex on frame. I understand the need to advertise in the local print media to popularize the event, but I cannot think this one through. Rs 35,000 billed by Bina Nayak under this head 'Grape Escapade advertising and publicity campaign' and Rs 3,000 billed under this head 'Grape Escapade additional hoarding charge.'
Invitations (360 +envelopes) were printed at Kolhapur at a cost of Rs 5,049. Later, another set of invitations were printed at the same Rajhauns Printing Press for Rs 5,564 (800 this time.) Leave alone the fact that in recent years the Grape Escapade has turned out to be an escape for wineries from Maharashtra (protesting, one Goan winery even refused to participate in 2007) the GTDC apparently thinks that local printers can't do a basic printing job. And almost like it wanted to make a point of GTDC's infidelity to Goa's winners, Grover Vineyard billed it Rs 3000 for wine served to VIPs and some select journalists. Grover's which spends millions propagating the social minutiae and, the grace of wine drinking, could not find the grace to be equally enchanting and serve up its wine for free. Particularly if you consider that a bottle of wine is in the region of Rs 300 a bottle and its bill of Rs 3000 means it served about 10 bottles. Come on!
In fact, the only company that did not pluck the vineyard of its choicest grapes, so to speak, was Bluebird Security Services which charged only Rs 5400 for security services provided. Thank God for small mercies!
(Feedback lionroars.goa@gmail.com, 9822152164)
Friday, August 29, 2008
Joy of a Joystick
Cost of flying the circus around so far:
Wilfred D'Souza Rs22,89,428 February 2005-August 2007
Dayanand Narvekar Rs14,94,884 February 2000-March 2007
Pratapsing Rane Rs14,57,354 February 2005-April 2006
Digambar Kamat Rs11,40,395 January 2000-January 2005
Luizinho Faleiro Rs9,03,119 February 2005-February 2006
Manohar Parrikar Rs 8,26,596 December 2000-December 2004
Joaquim Alemao Rs7,57,473 July 2005-October 2007
Antanasio Monserratte 7,25,957 April 2003-March 2006
Francis D'Souza Rs7,00,473 July 2002-January 2004
Ramrao Desai Rs6,71,434 June 2000-January 2005
Pandurang Madkaikar Rs 6,65,608 November 2004-July 2007
Ramkrishna Dhavlikar Rs 6,62,246 July 2002-July 2007
Dr. Suresh K. Amonkar Rs5,16,910 September 2000-January 2005
Francisco Sardinha Rs 4,10,661 January 2000-October 2000
Subash Shirodkar Rs3,51,008 September 2005-May 2007
Victoria Fernandes Rs 3,24,680 March 2000-October 2000
Ravi Naik Rs 2,80,422 November 2000-September 2007
Vinay Tendulkar Rs2,28,648 July 2002-May 2004.
Shaikh Haroon Rs2,11,713 December 2000-May 2002
Jose Philip D'Souza Rs2,00,346 November 2000-October 2007
Manohar Azagaonkar Rs1,78,821 November 2002-December 2004
Prakash Velip Rs1,61,845 December 2000-December 2001
Sanjay Bandekar Rs1,36,113 November 2000-February 2002
Francisco Xavier Pacheco Rs1,24,655 December 2002-November 2003
Dayanand Mandrekar Rs1,12,298 July 2004-January 2005.
Philip Neri Rodrigues Rs1,06,778 December 2002-March 2007
Francisco D'Souza Rs 83,144
Somnath Zuwarkar Rs 65,377
Arecio D'Souza Rs 63,238
Francisco Silveira Rs 39,117
Mauvin Godinho Rs 27,216
Venkatesh Desai Rs 9,550
Total Rs1,65,89,753
Direction control
Apart from getting my nomination to be prez of the Bleeding Hearts club of MLAs – please remember she is always concerned about women's rights, and swears women can be protected and their cause furthered only if she is made a montri – Victoria also has a thing for flying. By the way the only other member of the club is Anil Salgaocar, whom you might remember actually wanted to buy out an SEZ, an action he claimed would benefit poor sods like you and me. The latest member to this exalted and exclusive club is Mauvin Godinho who in the space of a few hours (as the cops would say the intervening night of August 16/17) said if politicians and bureaucrats are corrupt, then the aam admi is no less. After biting the hand that feeds him, in a manner of speaking, he followed up with this gobstopper: "I have special feelings for the poor, needy." Yeah, right Mauvin, I feel you. And as mea culpas go, this one sucked. And, till now you thought the only MLA afflicted by the disease called foot and mouth, was Churchill Alemao. How wrong.
Victoria Fernandes
8-11 February 2000 Delhi Rs43,774
8-18 March 2000 Berlin Rs1,05,000
18-24 April 2000 Sydney/Singapore Rs1,37,813
26 September-I October 2000 Bangalore Rs10,105
Total Rs3,24,680
Dr. Suresh K. Amonkar Rs5,16,910 between September 2002-January 2005 evidently fulfilling with incisive precision his ambition to fly to phoren shores, never mind somebody else was going to foot the bill. And because of this his total expenditure was Rs3,38,125 to jet off to France once and Zurich/Geneva on another occasion. Sanjay Bandekar clocked an expense of Rs1,36,113 between November 2000-February 2002 homing in on snow-covered Ladakh once. After all, if you live in the land of beaches and balmy weather, you need to cool off in beautiful Ladakh.
Philip Neri Rodrigues spent Rs1,06,778 flying between December 2002-March 2007. For a man who is a minister and who made history by being instrumental in the fall of the Manohar Parrikar government, must say grudgingly that he is no spendthrift. Full marks to a man who apparently respected your and my taxes enough not to blow it up. Must say, I'm quite blown away.
Jose Philip D'Souza Rs2,00,346 between November 2000-October 2007 which if compared to his frequent flier colleagues makes one suspect he has a fear of flying. Francisco Xavier Pacheco Rs1,24,655 between December 2002-November 2003 including Rs93,206 spent on two trips to London, but that is only the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Pacheco's penchant for flying truly emerged in his latest avatar as tourism minister. Micky whizzed here and jetsetted there, enough to make people on the ground air sick. And with this ends flying with the circus. Hope you had a good flight
(Feed back 9822152164, 0832-6658606 lionroars.goa@gmail.com)
Wilfred D'Souza Rs22,89,428 February 2005-August 2007
Dayanand Narvekar Rs14,94,884 February 2000-March 2007
Pratapsing Rane Rs14,57,354 February 2005-April 2006
Digambar Kamat Rs11,40,395 January 2000-January 2005
Luizinho Faleiro Rs9,03,119 February 2005-February 2006
Manohar Parrikar Rs 8,26,596 December 2000-December 2004
Joaquim Alemao Rs7,57,473 July 2005-October 2007
Antanasio Monserratte 7,25,957 April 2003-March 2006
Francis D'Souza Rs7,00,473 July 2002-January 2004
Ramrao Desai Rs6,71,434 June 2000-January 2005
Pandurang Madkaikar Rs 6,65,608 November 2004-July 2007
Ramkrishna Dhavlikar Rs 6,62,246 July 2002-July 2007
Dr. Suresh K. Amonkar Rs5,16,910 September 2000-January 2005
Francisco Sardinha Rs 4,10,661 January 2000-October 2000
Subash Shirodkar Rs3,51,008 September 2005-May 2007
Victoria Fernandes Rs 3,24,680 March 2000-October 2000
Ravi Naik Rs 2,80,422 November 2000-September 2007
Vinay Tendulkar Rs2,28,648 July 2002-May 2004.
Shaikh Haroon Rs2,11,713 December 2000-May 2002
Jose Philip D'Souza Rs2,00,346 November 2000-October 2007
Manohar Azagaonkar Rs1,78,821 November 2002-December 2004
Prakash Velip Rs1,61,845 December 2000-December 2001
Sanjay Bandekar Rs1,36,113 November 2000-February 2002
Francisco Xavier Pacheco Rs1,24,655 December 2002-November 2003
Dayanand Mandrekar Rs1,12,298 July 2004-January 2005.
Philip Neri Rodrigues Rs1,06,778 December 2002-March 2007
Francisco D'Souza Rs 83,144
Somnath Zuwarkar Rs 65,377
Arecio D'Souza Rs 63,238
Francisco Silveira Rs 39,117
Mauvin Godinho Rs 27,216
Venkatesh Desai Rs 9,550
Total Rs1,65,89,753
Direction control
Apart from getting my nomination to be prez of the Bleeding Hearts club of MLAs – please remember she is always concerned about women's rights, and swears women can be protected and their cause furthered only if she is made a montri – Victoria also has a thing for flying. By the way the only other member of the club is Anil Salgaocar, whom you might remember actually wanted to buy out an SEZ, an action he claimed would benefit poor sods like you and me. The latest member to this exalted and exclusive club is Mauvin Godinho who in the space of a few hours (as the cops would say the intervening night of August 16/17) said if politicians and bureaucrats are corrupt, then the aam admi is no less. After biting the hand that feeds him, in a manner of speaking, he followed up with this gobstopper: "I have special feelings for the poor, needy." Yeah, right Mauvin, I feel you. And as mea culpas go, this one sucked. And, till now you thought the only MLA afflicted by the disease called foot and mouth, was Churchill Alemao. How wrong.
Victoria Fernandes
8-11 February 2000 Delhi Rs43,774
8-18 March 2000 Berlin Rs1,05,000
18-24 April 2000 Sydney/Singapore Rs1,37,813
26 September-I October 2000 Bangalore Rs10,105
Total Rs3,24,680
Dr. Suresh K. Amonkar Rs5,16,910 between September 2002-January 2005 evidently fulfilling with incisive precision his ambition to fly to phoren shores, never mind somebody else was going to foot the bill. And because of this his total expenditure was Rs3,38,125 to jet off to France once and Zurich/Geneva on another occasion. Sanjay Bandekar clocked an expense of Rs1,36,113 between November 2000-February 2002 homing in on snow-covered Ladakh once. After all, if you live in the land of beaches and balmy weather, you need to cool off in beautiful Ladakh.
Philip Neri Rodrigues spent Rs1,06,778 flying between December 2002-March 2007. For a man who is a minister and who made history by being instrumental in the fall of the Manohar Parrikar government, must say grudgingly that he is no spendthrift. Full marks to a man who apparently respected your and my taxes enough not to blow it up. Must say, I'm quite blown away.
Jose Philip D'Souza Rs2,00,346 between November 2000-October 2007 which if compared to his frequent flier colleagues makes one suspect he has a fear of flying. Francisco Xavier Pacheco Rs1,24,655 between December 2002-November 2003 including Rs93,206 spent on two trips to London, but that is only the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Pacheco's penchant for flying truly emerged in his latest avatar as tourism minister. Micky whizzed here and jetsetted there, enough to make people on the ground air sick. And with this ends flying with the circus. Hope you had a good flight
(Feed back 9822152164, 0832-6658606 lionroars.goa@gmail.com)
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Flying all over the place
On the wings of fancy…OR religious tourism
Now here's man after my heart, an old fashioned traveller but with a huge difference. You and I pay for his flights of fancy (literally not metaphorically) and in case you don't know it comes out of the huge tax you are paying because our good FM Chidambaram is merciless about taking an arm and a leg from salaried blokes.
In the case of our intrepid itinerant, I am unable to lay my hands on what must have been his hotel expenses in, for example Kathmandu. Desai who belongs to the party of the Gods even had a soft landing in Thailand, which is a melting pot of cultures from India and Asia and whose language has words derived from Sanskrit. Now being in above said party he must have taken in the beautiful temples in Bangkok, even if soldiers fighting in Vietnam in the sixties put it on the map -Pattaya and Phuket, in particular -for, shall we say, other reasons.
Then surely his 13 days (9-21 October 2001) in Bangalore and Mysore City must have cost you a bomb (oops, after the serial bombs that went off last weekend, it might be a regrettable choice of words!). But Desai seems to have a penchant for Bangalore and Mysore cities because he visited them twice. He seems to love Jaipur more - a fact that the Rajasthan's tourism department will surely applaud -because he visited thrice, once in 2001 and twice in different months in 2003. Actually, Desai clearly loves travel destinations because he's been to God's Own Country twice (2001 and 2004), to Shimla in the summer and Uttaranchal and Kulu in October/November. His travels abroad cost you Rs3,13,258, that's half the cost of his total travel cost of Rs Rs6,71,434.)
Ramrao Desai
11-15 June 2000 Hyderabad Rs12,675
20-25 April 2000 Kathmandu Rs17,258
13-16 February 2001 Delhi Rs14,800
13-22 May 2001 Udaipur/Mount Abu/Jaipur/Ratma/Delhi Rs29,485
24-27 June 2001 Mumbai/Rajkot
26 April-3 May 2001 Delhi/Simla/Colmandu/Mumbai Rs17,409
31 Jan-12 Feb 2002 New Zealand/Thailand Rs72,000
09-21 Oct 2002 Bangalore/Mysore Rs5,491
19-21 Oct 2001 Mumbai/Delhi Rs15,599
30 Oct-5 Nov 2001 Cochin Rs8,470
23-26 Dec 2001 Delhi Rs17,263
02-07 July 2002 Delhi Rs14,181
30 Oct-03 November 2002 Mumbai/Delhi/Kulu Rs16,255
17-18 December 2002 Mumbai Rs6,742
08-09 March 2003 Delhi Rs17,660
23-25 January 2003 Bangalore/Mumbai Rs18,740
01-02 February 2003 &
04-06 June 2003 Mumbai Rs7,802
12-17 May 2003 Bangalore/Mysore Rs10,420
05-10 May 2003 Jaipur/Mumbai Rs17,869
23-27 July 2003 Jaipur/Mumbai Rs20,685
24 October-02 November 2003 Singapore/Hong Kong &
14-23 October 2003 USA/Canada Rs2,24,000
25-26 September 2004 &
15-16 January 2004 Mumbai Rs14,050
24-26 March 2004 Mumbai/Cochin Rs14,960
27 October-9 November 2004 Delhi/Uttaranchal/Delhi Rs23,255
24-27 November 2004 Delhi Rs21,417
20-23 January 2005 Delhi/Mumbai Rs22,188
Total Rs6,71,434
The last time I checked, Joaquim Alemao was not the IT minister. Yet, between April/May 2006 to October 2007, he made ten trips to Bangalore, known as the Silicon Valley of India. "Bangalored" is a pejorative usage when someone in the US has seen his job being outsourced to Bangalore. But Joaquim got "Bangalored" in a different way culminating in him spending a whopping Rs 1,14,261 to-ing and fro-ing to the IT city in just two trips. All one can say is that hotel rooms don't come cheap in Bangalore. Maybe he was checking out how Bangalore handled garbage. But 10 times costing the exchequer Rs 2,71,705 and that does not include the trip he made to Bangalore but whose ticket was clubbed with his Mumbai visit. Maybe he should be conferred a Ph.D in garbage management.
Speaking of Mumbai, he made 21 trips. Why? Go figure! And while you are at it figure out what he did in Mumbai between 22 January and 26 December of 2006. Of the three trips he made to Chennai -maybe to check out the bio-methanation plant at Koyambedu, the wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market where the bio-degradable garbage is converted to energy. As to why he went to Nagapattinam, that's a no-brainer. The Velankanni Church is there, stupid. It's a pilgrimage most Roman Catholics like to take.
Alemao's penchant was definitely for Bangalore, his liking for that destination beginning in April 2006 and the former garden city-turned-IT (crowded) city kind of grew on him. Culminating in him spending a whopping Rs1,14,261 on two trips in March 2007 itself in a total of Rs2,71,705 and that does not include one trip whose ticket cost was clubbed together with a trip to Mumbai.
Joaquim Alemao
18-27 July 2005 Mumbai Rs9187
5-7 September 2005 Mumbai Rs9602
21-23 October 2005 Mumbai/Delhi Rs24,322
14-17 September 2005 Mumbai/Chennai Rs23,905
2-4 December 2005 Delhi &
8-10 December Delhi Rs32,948
18-21 December Delhi Rs38,027 (3)
22 January-26 December 2006 Mumbai Rs14,486**
2-4 March 2006 Mumbai Rs37,821
4-5 April 2006 Delhi Rs37,672
28-30 March Mumbai Rs11,741
2-3 February 2006 Mumbai Rs13,440
26 April-1 May 2006 Bangalore Rs17,012
4-5 May 2006 Mumbai Rs13,970
22-23 May 2006 Bangalore Rs11,247
10-15 June 2006 Bangalore Rs27,440
3-8 August 2006 Pune/Mumbai Rs25,964
20-22 August 2006 Bangalore/Mumbai/Hyderabad Rs38,615
29 September-1 October 2006 Mumbai &
15-18 September 2006 Bangalore/Mumbai Rs27,315
13-14 October 2006 Mumbai Rs30,849
6-9 December 2006 Mumbai &
29-30 December 2006 Bangalore Rs31,893
10-12 January 2006 Mumbai &
20-29 January 2007 Mumbai Rs47,760
3-4 March 2007 Delhi Rs33,982
20-23 February 2007 Mumbai/Bangalore &
12-13 March 2007 Delhi/Bangalore Rs82,560
27-28 March 2007 Bangalore/Chennai Rs31,701
14-16 April 2007 Mumbai Rs15,302
1-5 July 2007 Bangalore/Chennai/Nagapattinam Rs35,815
7-8 August 2007 Mumbai Rs15,572
24-29 October 2007 Mumbai Rs17,325
Total Rs7,57,473
(Feed back 9822152164, lionroars.goa@gmail.com)
Monday, August 11, 2008
Fly Robin Fly
Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines
The following are some hard facts I could manage to research on the cost of flying around our montris over a limited period only. But it proves that flying is a passion with them just as dining out was.
Wilfred D'Souza Rs22,89,428 Feb 2005-Aug 2007, Dayanand Narvekar Rs14,94,884 Feb 2000-Mar 2007, Pratapsing Rane Rs14,57,354 Feb 2005-Apr 2006, Digambar Kamat Rs11,40,395 Jan 2000-Jan 2005, Manohar Parrikar Rs8,26,596 Dec 2000-Dec 2004, Pandurang Madkaikar Rs6,65,608 Sept 2002-July 2007, Ramkrishna Dhavlikar Rs6,62,246 July 2002-July 2007, Francisco Sardinha Rs4,10,661 Jan 2000-Oct 2000, Ravi Naik Rs2,80,422 Nov 2000-Sept 2007, Francisco D'Souza Rs83,144, Somnath Zuwarkar Rs65,377, Arecio D'Souza Rs63,238 Subash Shirodkar Rs43,814, Francisco Silveira Rs39,117, Mauvin Godinho Rs27,216,Venkatesh Desai Rs9,550.
Total Rs95,59,050
Delhi darbar
Luizinho Faleiro's frequent flying to Delhi that could easily be called Goa's other capital city, cost suspiciously like there were too many hangers-on towing after him. Else, how can you explain a Delhi flight that cost Rs34,660 and one that went up to Rs38,010. Will the government that was gracious enough to curtail the number of guests allowed to be entertained by our montris and IAS officers, do the same for flying when it is obviously evident that sometimes our montris are patently over the weight limit when flying.
Luizinho Faleiro
Delhi
5-7 February 2005 Delhi Rs25,542, 27-30 June 2005 Delhi Rs34,660, 5-8 September 2005 Rs34,660, 9-10 December 2005 Delhi Rs37,713, 5-8 April 2006 Delhi Rs38,010, 18-20 October 2006 Delhi Rs39,260, 21-24 February 2007 Delhi Rs39,670.
Mumbai
29-30 January 2007 Mumbai Rs16,030, 7-9 February 2006 Delhi/Mumbai Rs27,915, 19-23 October 2005 Mumbai Rs9,130,
Bangalore
12-13 July 2005 Bangalore Rs6,551, 5-6 November 2006 Bangalore Rs10,948,
Globe trekking
21-30 April 2006 Brazil/Venezuela Mexico Rs5,83,030,
Total Rs9,03,119
Antanasio Monserratte
Mainly Mumbai
11-12 April 2003 Mumbai Rs22,407, 19-22 September 2003, 3-5 & 21-24 November 2003 Rs22,589, 6-8 & 13-15 January 2004 Mumbai Rs22,934, 26, 13-14 June 2005 Mumbai Rs27,114, 9-10 September 2005 Delhi, 26.09-1.10.2005 Delhi/Mumbai, 8-9 December 2005 Delhi Rs78,653, 21-27 December 2005 Delhi/Mumbai, 18-19 March, 30-31 March 2006 Mumbai Rs58,496, 30-31 March 2006 Delhi/Mumbai Rs38,349, 18-22 June 2006 Mumbai Rs9,758, 5-10 June 2006, 16-17 July 2006 Mumbai Rs30,982, 5-27 May 2006, 22-23 July 2006, 2-6 August 2006 Rs50,724, 22-23 May, 2006 Delhi, 2-7 September 2006 Mumbai, 23-26 September 2006, 29-09-5.10 2006 Mumbai Rs1,11,867, 17-20 October 2006, 12-16, 23-25 November 2006 Rs48,690.
Delhi flights
26-28 June 2005 Mumbai/Delhi Rs33,357, 9-12 July 2005 Mumbai/Delhi Rs40,844, 13-15 January 2006 Delhi Rs37,932, 16-18 September 2006 Rs40,537,
Total 7,25,957
C for Development, D for Churchill
Do I contrive to change the spelling of development, not exactly, just trying to put it in Churchill's perspective. He is after all, the only Congress politician who still insists Goans breathe only to oppose development. Let's take a single example of such development, in village Tivim. Not that Vasco, Margao and most of Panjim have even basic infrastructure like a sewerage system or enough potable water. A Mumbai builder Expat Properties (how appropriate) has begun building 32 duplex flats on 8,000 sq mt land sold by Anthony Lobo and his clan of fortunate inheritors. While EP's plans may be legitimate and within Goa's archaic planning framework, this huge complex will only add to the concrete jungle spreading over Goa, diminish the diminishing greenery, spoil the Goa's natural character and only make Goans more chary of the fact they no longer can afford real estate in their own land. Which is why Bodiem is opposing it.
Rules meant to be broken
For them it's not a question of controlled ODP's, building rules or regulations, it's a question of leaving Bodiem entirely out of the realm of the real estate sharks who are going to build which ever way anyway, rule and regulations be damned. It was Dhirubhai Ambani remember who coined the word "management" and put it to maximium use. They know no ODP, rule or regulation, will come to their aid because they know the government does not have the machinery to enforce any rule or regulation nor, does it have the political will to do so. Ghutka, smoking in public places, urinating, drug use, rape, murder, there is very little in that is not banned, but look around you. Even High Court bans are not enforced these days.
Back to Bodiem village in VP Sircaim where the sarpanch Diksha Kanolkar's role is definitely suspect. Villagers fear water from the huge swimming pool will be released into the earth along with chemical disinfectants, so will sewerage waste. And where will the water for the pool come from? Already, EP began to dig a bore well without permission of the VP (so much for regulatory systems.) It has shown 35 car parks for the 32 duplex flats but in a straight line, with no direct access to the road against the prevailing rule of reserving space 2.5 mt x 5 mt for each car park.
(Feed back 9822152164, lionroars.goa@gmail.com)
The battle for Bardez
Know thy neighbour
A sanad which once gave a landlord or the simple land buyer of old a sense of accomplishment today has dangerous connotations. At worst it could mean doom for many villages and villagers as well battling to keep virtual gated communities out of their once charming village. But worse than that is the potential some of these sanads have for both village and villager because the outcome often is the building of yet another huge hotel complex construction as the names of many owners of these sanads mentioned in this article suggest. In other words, more migrant labourers, more traffic on the existing narrow village roads that were never intended for the current onslaught on them and more pressure on the existing unstable power supply.
As for the stress that is being put on the existing meagre potable water supply, there is really nothing more that can be said to put the water shortage problem in perspective. In other words all this put together suck the life out of your village. Says Tulio de Souza, attorney of the communidade of Guirim and an architect, "I am of the opinion that for any application for conversion above one acre (4000 sq m) and being done for commercial purposes, the Collector needs to examine whether the necessary infrastructure is available in the respective areas that would take care of the development that would follow the issuance of these sanads."
Sanads issued village-wise
Calangute -53
Soccorro -27
Candolim -23
Arpora –10
Salvador do Mundo -11
Sangolda -9
Nerul -6
Pilerne -6
Alto-Porvorim -3
Reis Magos -2
Assagao -1
Parra -1
Total -150
Alto Porvorim
A beneficiary to take note of in Alto Porvorim is Devashri Estate Developers the Dempo's construction outfit in the news recently. It got 300 sq m of land converted inside an amazing short period. The firm applied for the sanad on January 24, 2006 and was issued the sanad on April 8, 2006. A total of 4667 sq m was converted from agricultural to non-agricultural land.
Arpora
In village Arpora where a huge 1,22,115 sq m of land was converted the most conspicuous beneficiaries are Dr Fernando Jose Mascarhenas (81,726 sq mt) Prabhat Developers (1969) Riverside Home Developers (8557+5400.) Two non-Goans Shabbir AR Jhan (3850) and Kalpesh Natwarlal Gahil and Ravi Ramesh Chandra Gahil jointly converted 3300 sq m.
Calangute
In Calangute where there is little land left to build on, sanads were issued covering a total of 90,900.85 sq m of land it can safely be assumed must nearly all be prime land and accessible to roads. And as usual builders and hoteliers were behind 14 of the 23 conversions. GKP Real Estate Developers whose buildings in Calangute are ubiquitous converted a total of 1994 sq m (under two sanads.) Other land owners are DGN Resorts (1775) Ronil Hotels & Resorts (1950) Prudential Group (1725) Hindustan Hotel Ltd,. Panjim (2375) Reira Construction (2800) Nirvana Nest Buildcon (2000) New Builders & Developers (575+2991+700) Calangute Resorts (1275) Saldanha Developers (900) and Whispering Resorts (3000.) These land conversions represent 24,060 sq m of the land converted in Calangute.
Candolim
A total of 58,371.34 sq m of land was converted in this crammed village of narrow roads. As is the yardstick now builders showed the most interest. One builder Shelly Gonsalves got 1775 and 4675 sq mt converted and another 2940.34 sq m on behalf of Regal Builders. Other real estate developers with equally bigger plans are Navelkar Landmarks (1403) Phoenix Township (1310) Highland Constructions and Highland Holiday Homes (4150) Dena Karen Holiday Homes (1224) Devan Real Estate & Construction (12,733) Zephyr Holdings (2225) Tangerina Hotels (2775) and a Omprakash N Pariani (2207+2350)
Nerul
The Candolim-based builder Shelly Gonsalves also converted 6655 and 8912.50 sq m in this village next in line to be bludgeoned by builders after Calangute, Baga and Candolim.
Reis Magos
Fericem Engineering converted 8207 sq m
Salvador do Mundo
Fredric Developers converted 630 sq m, CV Constructions 2500 saq m and Navelkar Landmarks 8910 sq m.
Sangolda
Apseksha Homes 2425 sq, Tropical Estates 4546 sq m.
Socorro
Alcon Construction 15,398, RR Enterprises 1000 sq m, Acron Developers 5066 sq m and Tropical Estates (see Sangolda) 850 sq m.
Know your neighbour
In the event you want to know who your nextdoor neighbours will be, we reproduce here the survey nos. of land converted by some (only the very large land holdings) of the builders and hoteliers only. In Socorro, Alcons converted land existing under survey no 21/2. Sangolda: Topical Estates 2/11. Salvador do Mundo: Navelkar Landmarks -66/1. Reis Magos: Fericem Engineering -78/1-C. Nerul: Shelly Gonsalves 6665 sq m -11/1 & 8912.50 -5/1. Candolim: Regal Builders -149/4, Navelkar Landmarks -22/1-B, Phoenix Township -226/10 &14 part 8C part & 8D part, Highland Constructions -227/1, 227/2, Shelly Gonsalves 4675 sq m -224/2, 1775 sq m -10/1, Devan Real Estate -224/1 & 223/8, Zephyr Holdings 2225 sq -179/6 & 3150 sq m -208/3, Tangerina Hotels -138/13-D, 135/2 & 3.
(Note: Herald cannot find out if buildings have already been built on these lands as the Right To Information data provided only the applicants name, area, survey no, location, description of the forest/trees and the sanad application and issue date.)
A sanad which once gave a landlord or the simple land buyer of old a sense of accomplishment today has dangerous connotations. At worst it could mean doom for many villages and villagers as well battling to keep virtual gated communities out of their once charming village. But worse than that is the potential some of these sanads have for both village and villager because the outcome often is the building of yet another huge hotel complex construction as the names of many owners of these sanads mentioned in this article suggest. In other words, more migrant labourers, more traffic on the existing narrow village roads that were never intended for the current onslaught on them and more pressure on the existing unstable power supply.
As for the stress that is being put on the existing meagre potable water supply, there is really nothing more that can be said to put the water shortage problem in perspective. In other words all this put together suck the life out of your village. Says Tulio de Souza, attorney of the communidade of Guirim and an architect, "I am of the opinion that for any application for conversion above one acre (4000 sq m) and being done for commercial purposes, the Collector needs to examine whether the necessary infrastructure is available in the respective areas that would take care of the development that would follow the issuance of these sanads."
Sanads issued village-wise
Calangute -53
Soccorro -27
Candolim -23
Arpora –10
Salvador do Mundo -11
Sangolda -9
Nerul -6
Pilerne -6
Alto-Porvorim -3
Reis Magos -2
Assagao -1
Parra -1
Total -150
Alto Porvorim
A beneficiary to take note of in Alto Porvorim is Devashri Estate Developers the Dempo's construction outfit in the news recently. It got 300 sq m of land converted inside an amazing short period. The firm applied for the sanad on January 24, 2006 and was issued the sanad on April 8, 2006. A total of 4667 sq m was converted from agricultural to non-agricultural land.
Arpora
In village Arpora where a huge 1,22,115 sq m of land was converted the most conspicuous beneficiaries are Dr Fernando Jose Mascarhenas (81,726 sq mt) Prabhat Developers (1969) Riverside Home Developers (8557+5400.) Two non-Goans Shabbir AR Jhan (3850) and Kalpesh Natwarlal Gahil and Ravi Ramesh Chandra Gahil jointly converted 3300 sq m.
Calangute
In Calangute where there is little land left to build on, sanads were issued covering a total of 90,900.85 sq m of land it can safely be assumed must nearly all be prime land and accessible to roads. And as usual builders and hoteliers were behind 14 of the 23 conversions. GKP Real Estate Developers whose buildings in Calangute are ubiquitous converted a total of 1994 sq m (under two sanads.) Other land owners are DGN Resorts (1775) Ronil Hotels & Resorts (1950) Prudential Group (1725) Hindustan Hotel Ltd,. Panjim (2375) Reira Construction (2800) Nirvana Nest Buildcon (2000) New Builders & Developers (575+2991+700) Calangute Resorts (1275) Saldanha Developers (900) and Whispering Resorts (3000.) These land conversions represent 24,060 sq m of the land converted in Calangute.
Candolim
A total of 58,371.34 sq m of land was converted in this crammed village of narrow roads. As is the yardstick now builders showed the most interest. One builder Shelly Gonsalves got 1775 and 4675 sq mt converted and another 2940.34 sq m on behalf of Regal Builders. Other real estate developers with equally bigger plans are Navelkar Landmarks (1403) Phoenix Township (1310) Highland Constructions and Highland Holiday Homes (4150) Dena Karen Holiday Homes (1224) Devan Real Estate & Construction (12,733) Zephyr Holdings (2225) Tangerina Hotels (2775) and a Omprakash N Pariani (2207+2350)
Nerul
The Candolim-based builder Shelly Gonsalves also converted 6655 and 8912.50 sq m in this village next in line to be bludgeoned by builders after Calangute, Baga and Candolim.
Reis Magos
Fericem Engineering converted 8207 sq m
Salvador do Mundo
Fredric Developers converted 630 sq m, CV Constructions 2500 saq m and Navelkar Landmarks 8910 sq m.
Sangolda
Apseksha Homes 2425 sq, Tropical Estates 4546 sq m.
Socorro
Alcon Construction 15,398, RR Enterprises 1000 sq m, Acron Developers 5066 sq m and Tropical Estates (see Sangolda) 850 sq m.
Know your neighbour
In the event you want to know who your nextdoor neighbours will be, we reproduce here the survey nos. of land converted by some (only the very large land holdings) of the builders and hoteliers only. In Socorro, Alcons converted land existing under survey no 21/2. Sangolda: Topical Estates 2/11. Salvador do Mundo: Navelkar Landmarks -66/1. Reis Magos: Fericem Engineering -78/1-C. Nerul: Shelly Gonsalves 6665 sq m -11/1 & 8912.50 -5/1. Candolim: Regal Builders -149/4, Navelkar Landmarks -22/1-B, Phoenix Township -226/10 &14 part 8C part & 8D part, Highland Constructions -227/1, 227/2, Shelly Gonsalves 4675 sq m -224/2, 1775 sq m -10/1, Devan Real Estate -224/1 & 223/8, Zephyr Holdings 2225 sq -179/6 & 3150 sq m -208/3, Tangerina Hotels -138/13-D, 135/2 & 3.
(Note: Herald cannot find out if buildings have already been built on these lands as the Right To Information data provided only the applicants name, area, survey no, location, description of the forest/trees and the sanad application and issue date.)
(Feedback 2280935, 9822152164, lionroars.goa@gmail.com
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Look Ma, no wings
Around The World In 365 Days -6
Mumbai's frequent fliers
Ramkrishna Dhavlikar's flying so frequently to Mumbai is intriguing. He flew to Mumbai almost on a monthly basis, never outside that period and often for short stays of 36 hours which given the time it takes to drive in metros like Mumbai and Chennai, makes it even more interesting. Driving from and to airports within these metros takes a minimium of four hours. Factor in the night and office opening and closing timings and commuting within these metros, would leave him with not much time to perform his duties. Factor in his flying to two faraway metros in 2-3 days and you will need an aspirin to figure that one out. That's why I said his Mumbai trips are intriguing.
A long time ago I wrote in this column that the Speaker Pratapsingh Rane hired three lawyers Surendra Desai, TR Andhyarujina and A. Subhashini to fight the disqualification petition against the two MGP MLAs Ramkrishna and Deepak Dhavlikar in the Supreme Court. Desai was paid Rs9 lakh, Andhyarujina Rs5 lakh and Subhashini Rs1.21 lakh. That's a total of Rs15,21,000. I've said it before, I say it again. The Dhavlikar duo are turning out to be a luxury Goa cannot afford.
Pandurang Madkaikar
20 September 3 October 2002 Hongkong Rs59,330, 10-11 November 2004 Mumbai Rs7,435, 22-25 November 2002 Bangalore Rs8,702, 20 December-3 January 2003 Delhi Rs7,262, 15-19 January 2003 Delhi/Mumbai Rs19,456, 1-7 March 2003 Mumbai Rs7,955, 6-9 May 2003 Mumbai, 15-23 January 2003 Delhi/Mumbai Rs20,550, 2-5 June 2003 Mumbai Rs8,062, 27-28 June 2003 Mumbai Rs15,760, 30 June-3 July 2003 Mumbai, 6-10 October 2003 Mumbai Rs8,062, 19-21 June 2003 Mumbai Rs15,760, 25-30 July 2003 Mumbai, 3-5 November 2003 Mumbai Rs7,765, 21-25 November 2003 Mumbai/Delhi Rs22,894, 11-13 December 2003 Mumbai Rs11,204, 2-3 March 2004 Mumbai Rs9,664, 6-8 January 2004 Delhi Rs42,252, 13-16 January 2004 Mumbai/Delhi, 22-25 March 2004 Mumbai Rs10,106, 13 May 2004 Paris Rs29,700, 19-20 June 2004, Mumbai Rs9,627, 13-14 June 2004 Mumbai Rs9,508, 3-5 July 2004 Mumbai Rs11,032, 17-19 August 2004 Mumbai Rs10,330, 31 October-11 November 2004 Mumbai Rs14,055, 29-31 December 2004 Mumbai Rs12,172, 8-9 January 2005 Mumbai Rs40,805, 27-29 January 2005 Mumbai/Delhi Rs36,497, 20-22 January 2005 Mumbai/Delhi, 2-3 March 2005 Mumbai Rs11,747, 23-26 February 2005 Mumbai Rs8,464, 28 June-1 July 2005 Mumbai/Delhi Rs40,885, 31 July-3 August 2005 Delhi Rs14,917, 2-4 September 2005 Mumbai Rs6,055, 24-28 September 2005 Mumbai/Hyderabad/Tirupathi/
Vellore/Bangalore Rs18,844, 22-23 November 2005 Mumbai Rs10,162, 13-15 November 2005 Delhi Rs20,675, 21-22 November Mumbai/Cochin Rs37,015, 14-16 February 2007 Mumbai , 14-29 November 2007 Mumbai Rs15,149, 29-31 March 2007 Bangalore Rs18,085, 5-8 February, 2007, 2-6 April 2007 Mumbai Rs32,278, 10-12 July 2007 Mumbai Rs16,655.
Total Rs6,65,608
Ramkrishna Dhavalikar
2-4 July 2002 Delhi Rs17,359, 7-8 October 2002 Mumbai Rs3,324, 19-21 November 2002 Mumbai Rs7,764, 19-21 December 2002 Delhi Rs24,757, 3-5 January 2003 Bangalore/Chennai Rs14,230, 2-4 February 2003 Delhi Rs17,717, 22-24 January 2003 Chennai Rs30,562, 26-28 January 2003 Delhi, 16-19 February 2003 Delhi, 19-21 March 2003 Mumbai Rs18,978, 8-9 March 2003, 14-23 May 2003, 25-28 June 2003 Mumbai Rs25,170, 16-18 August 2003, 9-12 September 2003 Mumbai/Delhi/Pune, 18-22 September 2003 Hyderabad, Vishakhapatnam/Chennai Rs50,194, 16-18 October 2003 Mumbai Rs15,942, 18-21 November 2003, 16-18 December 2003 Delhi Rs27,153, 27-28 December 2003 Mumbai Rs6,870, 18-28 March 2004 Mumbai Rs7,002, 4-6 February 2004 Mumbai, 3-4 March 2004 Mumbai Rs6,750, 31 March-3 April 2004 Mumbai/Kolkotta Rs21,875, 1-4 May 2004 Chennai/Mumbai Rs12,433, 23-27 May 2004 Bangalore/Trivandrum Rs8,672, 15-27 June 2004 Rs9,120, 20-22 June 2004 Mumbai Rs6,928, 8-11 August 2004 Mumbai/Delhi Rs20,092, 7-10 October 2004 Delhi/Mumbai Rs20,057, 20-23 November 2004 Mumbai/Surat Rs7,319, 31 December-2 January 2005 Delhi Rs8,117, 19-22 January 2005 Delhi Rs21,480, 27-29 June 2005 Delhi Rs34,457, 18-20 July 2005 Delhi/Mumbai Rs10,997, 6-11 November 2005 Vadodara Rs19,074, 2-4 January 2006 Mumbai Rs9,770, 30 January-1 February 2006 Delhi Rs20,722, 6-8 February 2006 Mumbai Rs7,537, 27-28 March 2006 Mumbai Rs4,395, 23-25 February 2006 Mumbai/Delhi Mumbai Rs25,190, 28 February-3 March 2006 Mumbai Rs8,647, 13-16 June 2006 Mumbai Rs6,374, 8-9 September 2006 Mumbai Rs8,884, 6-8 November 2006 Mumbai Rs16,065, 15-16 November 2006 Mumbai Rs9,185, 7-10 December 2006 Delhi/Mumbai Rs14,143, 3-4 January 2007 Mumbai Rs12,950, 22-23 April 2007 Mumbai Rs8,314, 11-13June 2007 Delhi/Mumbai Rs1,778, 25-28 June 2007, 3-5 July 2007 Delhi Rs42,107.
Total Rs6,62,246
Cost of flying the Circus around so far
Wilfred D'Souza Rs22,89,428 Feb 2005-Aug 2007
Dayanand Narvekar Rs14,94,884 Feb 2000-Mar 2007
Pratapsing Rane Rs14,57,354 Feb 2005-Apr 2006
Digambar Kamat Rs11,40,395 Jan 2000-Jan 2005
Manohar Parrikar Rs 8,26,596 Dec 2000-Dec 2004
Pandurang Madkaikar Rs 6,65,608 Sept 2002-July 2007
Ramkrishna Dhavlikar Rs 6,62,246 July 2002-July 2007
Francisco Sardinha Rs 4,10,661 Jan 2000-Oct 2000
Ravi Naik Rs 2,80,422 Nov 2000-Sept 2007
Francisco D'Souza Rs 83,144
Somnath Zuwarkar Rs 65,377
Arecio D'Souza Rs 63,238
Subash Shirodkar Rs 43,814
Francisco Silveira Rs 39,117
Mauvin Godinho Rs 27,216
Venkatesh Desai Rs 9,550
Total Rs 95,59,050
(Feedback 2280935, 9822152164, lionroars.goa@gmail.com
)
Burp-worthy feast
Living to eat -8
The Last Supper
This is the last in the series and I assure there won't be on encore because I am moving on to more meaty things, like the shenanigans elsewhere. So, keep watching this space. It was fun determining whether our montris live to eat or eat to live, except of course for the many trips to the Secretariat only to find the official not in his/her seat and for the keying in of all those exhaustive details. My fingers still hurt and it only increased the chances of my getting carpel tunnel syndrome. But don't thank me -thank Sonia Gandhi whose idea it was to give Indians the only weapon (The Right To Information Act) we have to fight back, because we still haven't learnt how to use the ballot box to benefit us.
BS Bhalla, chief electoral officer
15.09.04 dinner for BB Tandon, EC Goa Marriott Rs13,310
15.12.04 dinner for Delimitation Commission Goa Marriott Rs32,260
Debashree Mukherjee, IAS
14.02.04 lunch, World Bank, water and sanitation programme Cidade Rs5,654
07.09.04 lunch for KN Bhandari, Universal Medical Scheme Goa Marriott Rs2,504
20.10.04 dinner for Delhi officials Goa Marriott Rs2,953
01.04.05 dinner for MCI inspectors Cidade Rs29,570
22.08.05 dinner for Japan International Co-operation Agency no details Rs13,526
30.09.05 dinner for SK Arora, secy, GOI Goa Marriott Rs6,207
LS Shetty, law secretary
04.06.04 lunch for SR Das, Dept of Information Technology, Delhi Mandovi Rs2,475
18.06.04 lunch for law officers of different States Mandovi Rs6,427
Ashwani Kumar, secretary (vigilance)
08.04.04 dinner for KL Ahuja, Sandesh Mehta, Central Vigilance Commission Mandovi Rs1,261
28.09.05 dinner for SB Bonde, Shilamoth Jadhav Prof Yashada Mandovi Rs5,072
Atmaram Nadkarni, Adv. General
24.07.04 lunch for seminar on effective defence in Govt Goa Marriott Rs41,260.
Amit Yadav, secretary (agriculture)
12.08.04 dinner for Ram Pratap Singh, ICAR Nova Goa Rs6,260
01.10.04 dinner Agriculture & Horticulture Produce Conference Nova Goa Rs6,995.
Secretary Mines
23.08.05 dinner for Expert Committee (Mining) GOI Foodland Rs15,871.
Dharmendra Sharma, commissioner & secretary
11.08.05 dinner for RBI official Moti Mahal Rs4,725
12.10.06 dinner for ex-Dy PM, Bulgaria O'Coqueiro Rs11,284
11.10.06 dinner for Minister, GOI O'Coqueiro Rs11,762
18.11.05 dinner for ICAR Santa Monica and Shetye Caterers/Circuit House Rs16,500+57,000
SK Jain, commissioner & secretary
31.08.05 dinner for visiting IAS officers Goa Marriott Rs25,418
04.09.05 dinner for Neelam Sawhney jt secy, GOI Cidade Rs10,855
Santosh Vaidya, secretary
15.09.05 lunch for education secy, GOI Goa Marriott Rs6,777
12.06.06 dinner for secy, WCD, Maharashtra Ronil Rs7,626
23.10.06 dinner for visiting IAS officers Majestic Rs20,807
09.03.07 dinner chairman, National Trust Cidade Rs28,921
UK Worah, secretary
06.12.05 lunch for Yashada, Pune Mandovi Rs7,266
14.11.05 dinner for young US politicians Goa Marriott Rs15,210 (on the same day Rane spent Rs63,000 for the same cause at Fort Aguada.)
RP Pal
30.11.05 dinner for Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy officer Goa Marriott Rs27,533.
29.06.06 dinner for director, Ministry of Consumer Affairs Delhi Darbar Rs19,800.
M. Modassir
02.10.07 dinner for Ministry of Agriculture advisors Cidade Rs47,135.
Ramesh Negi, finance secy
16.06.06 lunch for Planning Commission Majorda Beach Resort Rs11,025.
09.02.07 lunch for all secretaries, Evaluation Committee, Member for International Connection Centre Goa Marriott Rs20,081
03.06.07 dinner for Election Commission observers Cidade Rs36,823
06.06.07 dinner for EC observers Barcolento Rs75,080
Anand Prakash, development commissioner
25.04.07 dinner for MCI inspectors Mandovi Rs20,902
16.05.07 dinner for MCI inspectors Mandovi Rs18,804
13.07.07 lunch for Autonomous Management Committee Goa Marriott Rs7,858
27.12.07 lunch for committee for restoration of Santa Anne's Church, Talaulim Cidade Rs6,265
The GOVERNMENT'S FOODBILL THUS FAR:
Digambar Kamat Rs 36,47,744
Pratapsing Rane Rs 39,72,941
Manohar Parrikar Rs 12,05,515
Vishwajit Rane Rs 84,788
Alexio Sequeira Rs 1,03,590
Luizinho Faleiro Rs 2,69,900
Micky Pacheco Rs 2,37,426
Subhash Shirodkar Rs 3,69,207
Atanasio Monserrate Rs 31,310
Joaquim Alemao Rs. 3,82,028
Suresh Amonkar Rs 1,07,879
Pandurang Madkaikar Rs 17,319
Ravi Naik Rs 1,64,376
Ramkrishna Dhavlikar Rs 1,19,660
Jose Philip D'Souza Rs 1,13,515
Filipe Neri Rodrigues Rs 23,820
Dayanand Mandrekar Rs 12,480
J P Singh, IAS Rs 16,61,290
DS Negi, IAS Rs 4,25,683
Vijay Madan, IAS Rs 58,223
Kiran Dhingra, IAS Rs 1,54,375
JK Dadoo Rs 2,53,271
Add above Rs 7,07,062
Total Rs 1,41,23,402
Period researched is April 2004 to 2007.
C for Development, D for Churchill
Do I contrive to change the spelling of development, not exactly, just trying to put it in Churchill's perspective. He is after all, the only Congress politician who still insists Goans breathe only to oppose development. Let's take a single example of such development, in rural Tivim. Not that urban Vasco, Margao and most of Panjim have even basic infrastructure like a sewerage system or enough potable water. A Mumbai builder Expat Properties (how appropriate!) has begun building 32 duplex flats on 8,000 sq mt land sold by Anthony Lobo and his clan of fortunate inheritors. While EP's plans may be legitimate and within Goa's archaic planning framework, this huge complex will only add to the concrete jungle spreading over Goa, diminish the diminishing greenery, spoil Goa's natural character and only make Goans more chary of the fact they no longer can afford real estate in their own land. Which is why Bodiem is opposing it.
For them it's not a question of controlled ODP's, or building rules and regulations, it's a question of leaving Bodiem entirely out of the realm of the real estate sharks who are going to build whichever way anyway, rule and regulations be damned. It was Dhirubhai Ambani remember who coined the word "management" and put it to maximum use. They know no ODP, rule or regulation, will come to their aid because they know the government does not have the machinery to enforce any rule or regulation nor, does it have the political will to do so. Gutka, smoking in public places, urinating, drug use, rape, murder –there is very little that is not banned in fact- but look around you. Even High Court verdicts are not enforced.
Back to Bodiem village in VP Sircaim where the sarpanch Diksha Kanolkar's role is definitely suspect. Villagers fear water from the huge swimming pool will be released into the earth along with its chemical disinfectants, so will sewerage waste. And where will the water from the pool come from? Already, EP began to dig a borewell without permission of the VP (so much for regulatory systems.) It has shown 35 car parks for the 32 duplex flats but in a straight line, with no direct access to the exiting road against the existing rule of reserving space 2.5 mt x 5 mt for each car park.
(Feedback 2280935, 9822152164, lionroars.goa@gmail.com)
The Last Supper
This is the last in the series and I assure there won't be on encore because I am moving on to more meaty things, like the shenanigans elsewhere. So, keep watching this space. It was fun determining whether our montris live to eat or eat to live, except of course for the many trips to the Secretariat only to find the official not in his/her seat and for the keying in of all those exhaustive details. My fingers still hurt and it only increased the chances of my getting carpel tunnel syndrome. But don't thank me -thank Sonia Gandhi whose idea it was to give Indians the only weapon (The Right To Information Act) we have to fight back, because we still haven't learnt how to use the ballot box to benefit us.
BS Bhalla, chief electoral officer
15.09.04 dinner for BB Tandon, EC Goa Marriott Rs13,310
15.12.04 dinner for Delimitation Commission Goa Marriott Rs32,260
Debashree Mukherjee, IAS
14.02.04 lunch, World Bank, water and sanitation programme Cidade Rs5,654
07.09.04 lunch for KN Bhandari, Universal Medical Scheme Goa Marriott Rs2,504
20.10.04 dinner for Delhi officials Goa Marriott Rs2,953
01.04.05 dinner for MCI inspectors Cidade Rs29,570
22.08.05 dinner for Japan International Co-operation Agency no details Rs13,526
30.09.05 dinner for SK Arora, secy, GOI Goa Marriott Rs6,207
LS Shetty, law secretary
04.06.04 lunch for SR Das, Dept of Information Technology, Delhi Mandovi Rs2,475
18.06.04 lunch for law officers of different States Mandovi Rs6,427
Ashwani Kumar, secretary (vigilance)
08.04.04 dinner for KL Ahuja, Sandesh Mehta, Central Vigilance Commission Mandovi Rs1,261
28.09.05 dinner for SB Bonde, Shilamoth Jadhav Prof Yashada Mandovi Rs5,072
Atmaram Nadkarni, Adv. General
24.07.04 lunch for seminar on effective defence in Govt Goa Marriott Rs41,260.
Amit Yadav, secretary (agriculture)
12.08.04 dinner for Ram Pratap Singh, ICAR Nova Goa Rs6,260
01.10.04 dinner Agriculture & Horticulture Produce Conference Nova Goa Rs6,995.
Secretary Mines
23.08.05 dinner for Expert Committee (Mining) GOI Foodland Rs15,871.
Dharmendra Sharma, commissioner & secretary
11.08.05 dinner for RBI official Moti Mahal Rs4,725
12.10.06 dinner for ex-Dy PM, Bulgaria O'Coqueiro Rs11,284
11.10.06 dinner for Minister, GOI O'Coqueiro Rs11,762
18.11.05 dinner for ICAR Santa Monica and Shetye Caterers/Circuit House Rs16,500+57,000
SK Jain, commissioner & secretary
31.08.05 dinner for visiting IAS officers Goa Marriott Rs25,418
04.09.05 dinner for Neelam Sawhney jt secy, GOI Cidade Rs10,855
Santosh Vaidya, secretary
15.09.05 lunch for education secy, GOI Goa Marriott Rs6,777
12.06.06 dinner for secy, WCD, Maharashtra Ronil Rs7,626
23.10.06 dinner for visiting IAS officers Majestic Rs20,807
09.03.07 dinner chairman, National Trust Cidade Rs28,921
UK Worah, secretary
06.12.05 lunch for Yashada, Pune Mandovi Rs7,266
14.11.05 dinner for young US politicians Goa Marriott Rs15,210 (on the same day Rane spent Rs63,000 for the same cause at Fort Aguada.)
RP Pal
30.11.05 dinner for Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy officer Goa Marriott Rs27,533.
29.06.06 dinner for director, Ministry of Consumer Affairs Delhi Darbar Rs19,800.
M. Modassir
02.10.07 dinner for Ministry of Agriculture advisors Cidade Rs47,135.
Ramesh Negi, finance secy
16.06.06 lunch for Planning Commission Majorda Beach Resort Rs11,025.
09.02.07 lunch for all secretaries, Evaluation Committee, Member for International Connection Centre Goa Marriott Rs20,081
03.06.07 dinner for Election Commission observers Cidade Rs36,823
06.06.07 dinner for EC observers Barcolento Rs75,080
Anand Prakash, development commissioner
25.04.07 dinner for MCI inspectors Mandovi Rs20,902
16.05.07 dinner for MCI inspectors Mandovi Rs18,804
13.07.07 lunch for Autonomous Management Committee Goa Marriott Rs7,858
27.12.07 lunch for committee for restoration of Santa Anne's Church, Talaulim Cidade Rs6,265
The GOVERNMENT'S FOODBILL THUS FAR:
Digambar Kamat Rs 36,47,744
Pratapsing Rane Rs 39,72,941
Manohar Parrikar Rs 12,05,515
Vishwajit Rane Rs 84,788
Alexio Sequeira Rs 1,03,590
Luizinho Faleiro Rs 2,69,900
Micky Pacheco Rs 2,37,426
Subhash Shirodkar Rs 3,69,207
Atanasio Monserrate Rs 31,310
Joaquim Alemao Rs. 3,82,028
Suresh Amonkar Rs 1,07,879
Pandurang Madkaikar Rs 17,319
Ravi Naik Rs 1,64,376
Ramkrishna Dhavlikar Rs 1,19,660
Jose Philip D'Souza Rs 1,13,515
Filipe Neri Rodrigues Rs 23,820
Dayanand Mandrekar Rs 12,480
J P Singh, IAS Rs 16,61,290
DS Negi, IAS Rs 4,25,683
Vijay Madan, IAS Rs 58,223
Kiran Dhingra, IAS Rs 1,54,375
JK Dadoo Rs 2,53,271
Add above Rs 7,07,062
Total Rs 1,41,23,402
Period researched is April 2004 to 2007.
C for Development, D for Churchill
Do I contrive to change the spelling of development, not exactly, just trying to put it in Churchill's perspective. He is after all, the only Congress politician who still insists Goans breathe only to oppose development. Let's take a single example of such development, in rural Tivim. Not that urban Vasco, Margao and most of Panjim have even basic infrastructure like a sewerage system or enough potable water. A Mumbai builder Expat Properties (how appropriate!) has begun building 32 duplex flats on 8,000 sq mt land sold by Anthony Lobo and his clan of fortunate inheritors. While EP's plans may be legitimate and within Goa's archaic planning framework, this huge complex will only add to the concrete jungle spreading over Goa, diminish the diminishing greenery, spoil Goa's natural character and only make Goans more chary of the fact they no longer can afford real estate in their own land. Which is why Bodiem is opposing it.
For them it's not a question of controlled ODP's, or building rules and regulations, it's a question of leaving Bodiem entirely out of the realm of the real estate sharks who are going to build whichever way anyway, rule and regulations be damned. It was Dhirubhai Ambani remember who coined the word "management" and put it to maximum use. They know no ODP, rule or regulation, will come to their aid because they know the government does not have the machinery to enforce any rule or regulation nor, does it have the political will to do so. Gutka, smoking in public places, urinating, drug use, rape, murder –there is very little that is not banned in fact- but look around you. Even High Court verdicts are not enforced.
Back to Bodiem village in VP Sircaim where the sarpanch Diksha Kanolkar's role is definitely suspect. Villagers fear water from the huge swimming pool will be released into the earth along with its chemical disinfectants, so will sewerage waste. And where will the water from the pool come from? Already, EP began to dig a borewell without permission of the VP (so much for regulatory systems.) It has shown 35 car parks for the 32 duplex flats but in a straight line, with no direct access to the exiting road against the existing rule of reserving space 2.5 mt x 5 mt for each car park.
(Feedback 2280935, 9822152164, lionroars.goa@gmail.com)
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