Feast of the Holy Spirit Church in Margao

The Feast of the Holy Spirit Church is celebrated annually at the Church Of The Holy Spirit in Margao. It falls on the seventh Sunday after Easter and is also called Purumetache Fest. The feast is accompanied by a fair and carnival, where people from all over Goa visit Margao to shop for various items such as spices, dry fish etc.

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Pollution Control board Chairman Shetgaonkar Speaks In Cuncolim

Pollution Control board Chairman Shetgaonkar Speaks In Cuncolim Cuncolim Chieftain’s Memorial Committee #pollution #environment #climatechange #nature #zerowaste #earth #plastic #savetheplanet #recycle #sustainability #waste #ocean #plasticpollution #recycling #ecofriendly #plasticfree #globalwarming #airpollution #reuse #green #water #trash #eco #climate #environnement #inquinamento #bhfyp #gogreen #air #bhfyp The Goa State Pollution Control Board was reconstituted on 15/12/2017 under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act 1974, with a mandate to plan a comprehensive programme for the prevention, control and abatement of Water and Air pollution in the State of Goa. The Board advices, State Government on matters concerning prevention, control and abatement of Water Act. Also implements the Hazardous and other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules 2016, Biomedical Waste Management Rule 2016, Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules 2000, Solid Waste Management Rules 2016, Plastic Waste Management Rule 2016, Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules 2001 and E-Waste Management Rules 2016. The Board aims to promote clean and green Environment to the people of Goa along with quality of good Air and Water. The Board also aims to promote cleanliness of wells, streams; rivers in different areas of the State, to have better quality of water by prevention & control. Board also wishes to make Goa plastic free in the near future. This can be achieved by bringing and arranging awareness programmes through school, social forums etc. The Board is also actively involved in carrying out the following studies in the State of Goa: 1) Source apportionment study by IIT Mumbai on coal issue at Vasco 2) Commissioning of mobile van for continuous air monitoring station 3) Board have initiated at the request of Government of Goa, Salinity Mapping of major estuaries and rivers in the State of Goa. The Board will undertake many such studies throughout the State of Goa and seeks inputs from stake holders on such issues. We also look forward to an active participation from the public at large in helping us to achieve our objectives under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974 and under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981 by bringing non compliances to our attention. Ganesh B. Shetgaonkar Chairman fromthe Cuncolim news archives In an interesting development over the handling of 25,000 tons of hazardous waste at the Cuncolim Industrial Estate, the Goa State Pollution Control Board on Monday directed South Goa District Collector to seal the premises at Plot no L-2 and L-3 at the Industrial estate. In an order issued on Monday evening, GSPCB Chairman Jose Manuel Noronha revoked with immediate effect the Consent to Establish (NOC) ordered dated March 1, 2012 issued by the Board to Ms The Axis for the establishment of a unit to manufacture cement products at Plot No-3 at the Cuncolim Industrial Estate. The Board has further directed Ms Axis to immediately stop the handling or removal of hazardous waste dumped at plot Nos L-2 and L-3 at the industrial estate until further orders. The GSPCB has warned to initiate additional stringent legal action against the Management of Ms Axis in accordance with the provisions of the Water Act and Air Act for failing to comply with the directions. The Board has directed the IDC Field Manager to ensure that the hazardous waste dumped within plot Nos L-2 and L-3 at the industrial estate is not allowed to be handled or removed until further orders, while the GSPCB Assistant Environmental engineer has been directed to submit a detailed proposal to be implemented by Ms The Axis for the temporary storage of the hazardous waste at the two plots till such time the same is disposed off in a captive landfill site. The directions came following the surprise inspection conducted by the GSCPB led by Chairman Jose Manuel Noronha and member secretary Levinson Martins on Friday, which allegedly revealed that Ms The Axis management handled the hazardous waste stored at Plot No L-2 And L-3 at the Cuncolim Industrial Estate in a manner that amounts to an utter disregard of the Board’s directions dated August 1, 2012 and in a manner that can potentially give rise to grave environmental pollution in the vicinity. The surprise inspection had revealed that the old shed of M/s Sunrise Zinc Ltd located in L-3 was being dismantled by Ms Axis, while the hazardous waste stored in the L-3 plot was being removed and dumped in the L-2 plot on the dumps and on the ground in the open. The waste was also levelled in Plot No L-3 and red mud was spread over it. It was further observed that the solvent tanks were dismantled and the sludge from these tanks was dumped on the ground. This waste was dumped at Plot No L-2 and was very fresh; while the waste earlier stored approximately 26880 MT was opened/partly closed in unscientific manner

Lone survivor of the storm in #Goa Stranded farmer in Benaulim

Music is his passion and farming as a hobby give him kicks. He is all but eighty-one years in age, but yet not given up on the things he was most of fond of in life- cultivating his paddy field and rearing his she buffaloes for milk.
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A decade back, his paddy fields yielded two crops in a season. But with the adjoining paddy fields converted into a housing project only one crop is possible per season now – a death knell for farming in the Indian state of Goa.
For the umpteen time Joao Santan Rebello cast his vote last month, to elect his representative to the 15th Lok Sabha, the lower house of Indian parliament, since Goa got liberated from the Portuguese in 1962. Much has changed over the years with modernization in the tourist-resort state, the small state of India which welcomes some four millions foreign tourists every year. In the race to build mega housing projects to cater to the tourists many a paddy fields have fallen prey.
People like Rebello who hails from coastal village of Benaulim are becoming rarer and rarer to find in Goa , one who continue to cultivate their paddy fields in the face of many obstacles. All his life he has lived on the profits from his paddy fields and buffaloes rearing business - to take care of his family needs and to provide education to his five sons. Giving up on what he has been doing all his life is hard thing and that is what Rebello finds difficult.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/272627#ixzz51Y44YBzu

Western tourists in Indian state of Goa celebrate World Ocean's day in Arambol village

Western tourists  clear Arambol Sweetwater Lake of dangerous 'mines'ahead of tourist season
Thousands of volunteers plucked plastic, broken beer bottles and other waste products from the rocks around Sweetwater Lake of Palyem and Arambol beach along Goa’s coast for the last four weeks under
Volunteers however fear that a number of broken glass piece of beer bottles, which they fear lie underneath the water, pose a potential hazard for people who use the SweetWater lake
with divers unable to clear garbage from the water.
volunteers retrieved rusted scrap metal, plastic bottles, and other waste alongside Plastic waste. Volunteers dressed in blue T-shirts sifted through fine sand to remove fragments of plastic as well as collected larger items like beer bottles.

The Sweetwater Lake, situated a few metres away from Arambol Beach, and which falls in the property of Congress leader Jitendra Deshprabhu, the scion of the Deshprabhu family and the erstwhile viscount of Pernem, is one of the most important wetlands on the Arabian coast and a habitat for many migratory birds.

The Sweetwater lake has been in the past been a site for many Full Moon parties, patronised mostly by european tourists and indians too, parties in which trance music and drugs flow easily in the coastal paradise of India, a state which has gained notoriety for the easy availability of drugs

The World Oceans Day kicked off Saturday as a reminder of the major role oceans have in everyday life.
This year, the UN General Assembly launched "Play It Out" -- a global campaign against Plastic pollution that includes a music festival.
"Today, 13,000,000 tonnes of Plastic leak into the oceans every year, what among other damage, kill 100,000 marine animals annually," the UN said in a statement.
"While most Plastics are expected to remain intact for decades or centuries after use, Plastics in the oceans that do erode end up as micro-Plastics that are consumed by fish and other wildlife, quickly making their way into the global food chain,” it said.
"From Plastic straws to Plastic bags, we all are at the frontline of efforts to #BeatPlasticPollution."
The UN added that globally, the market value of marine and coastal resources and industries is estimated at $3 trillion per year, or about 5% of global GDP, showing the financial importance of oceans for the world.
More than 1,000 related events are being held around the world this year, including film screenings, clean-up activities, interactive talks and painting contests.

The UN General Assembly decided that as of 2009, June 8 would be designated as World Oceans Day to draw global attention to the benefits derived from the oceans and the challenges faced by the international community in connection with the oceans.
According to the UN, the concept of a "World Oceans Day” was first proposed in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro "as a way to celebrate our world’s shared ocean and our personal connection to the sea”.

 ‘Dolphins are not entertainers’

On the occasion of World Oceans Day, World Animal Protection, an international non-profit animal welfare organization, released a statement on its website concerning dolphins.
"Some dolphins are condemned to a life of utter boredom in the confines of a manmade concrete tank or artificial lagoon," it said, criticizing "Swim with the Dolphins" programs.
The movement also stressed that wild dolphins can swim more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) a day and can live for over 50 years, "which amounts to a life sentence in a small, chlorinated pool".
It also criticized the detention of dolphins in Australia for tourism.

Urgent: Clean Arambol campaign needs Goa Tourism department's help

100 beer sacks, each containing of 30 to 40 bottles each, remain to be moved from Sweetwater lake in Armabol before the Southwest moonsoon sets in Goa.

Beer bottles are not the only thing which the Clean Armabol Swach Abihyan have collected for the last several weeks, plastic bottles and several others items have been collected and packed in discarded rice bags. They are on need of more rice bags and more volunteers to join the campaign.

Jade Kim, a Korean born Australian citizen, a yoga teacher is the face and the driving force behind the biggest beach cleanup project undertaken in Goa.

The cleanup is not over yet. And all the effort of the team, which is made up of nationals from different nationalities ranging from France, Australia, Russia, England, and also some local volunteers will be vain if the collected is not lifted from the site on an immediate basis before the rainy season sets in.

Dristi Beach Cleaning servicing have promised help by sending labourers to the sight on Saturday to clear the place, which has turned out to be the biggest beach side garbage dump in any coastal village of Goa.

The panchayat authorities including the sarpanch Dominic has had no role to play to clearing the mess and any calls to him by the volunteers gets a typical response "I am busy with the court cases of the Panchayat.

The restaurants who are also the culprits in littering the garbage and creating the mess are also not cooperating in the drive and some of the people of the area are guilty of burning garbage and adding to the air pollution and global warming up.

The local church help was sought by the volunteers in the clean up drive.

The volunteers are hoping that history does not repeat itself next season and there needs to be an awareness among the local business community and local alike in keeping the place and free of garbage.

The tourists need to be informed and adequate sign boards need to be installed along with dustbins so the garbage is not littered everywhere in the village, says Kim.

And the group has focused their campaign in keeping the area free of plastic and have had launched several eco friendly projects including banana leafs as straws and locally made garbage bins of bamboo sticks to get rid of plastic from several restaurants in the area.

150-day public awareness campaign #TeraMeraBeach ends on a high

150-day public awareness campaign #TeraMeraBeach ends on a high

Eventful evening as the sun set at Baga Beach, one of Goa’s popular beaches. 

Foot tapping beats produced from djembes and instruments made from waste material engaged tourists and visitors to participate in closing of the 150-day #TeraMeraBeach campaign rolled out by Drishti Marine aimed at educating people, especially domestic visitors, on cleanliness and beach management along the coastal stretch.

Marking the successful run of the awareness campaign, Drishti Marine along with Taal Inc conducted a junk jam session using instruments made out of waste at the popular Baga beach. Additionally, the drum circle and a beach clean-up drive was held at the beach where locals and tourists came together to spread awareness on simple ways and means to keep Goa’s beaches clean.

A unique one-of-a-kind Waste Bar was operational where beach goers traded waste, including straws, cigarette butts, plastic wrappers, bottle caps and paper for beverages and sun-downers. Visitors also contributed to the community art installation by adorning it with waste collected at the beach during the beach clean-up drive.

Noreen van Holstine who conceptualised the campaign along with Taal Inc conducted a workshop on 14th April 2018 at Museum of Goa (MOG) on creating simple musical instruments from waste. The instrument made at the workshop was used at the Junk Jam session at Baga beach.

Ravi Shankar, CEO, Drishti Marine said, “The response to the campaign was excellent. We have made personal contact with approximately 25,000 people including tourists and visitors during the 150-day #TeraMeraBeach campaign. We will continue to do our bit to educate the public about waste management on the beaches of Goa.”

Said Noreen van Holstine, “We had a very good response today, the last day of #TeraMeraBeach campaign by Drishti Marine. We had a large number of people from Goa despite the number of events happening today accross the state. We developed a waste bar for the closing of the campaign where visitors and tourists could exchange bottle caps, cigarette butts and straws for beverages. The visitors had a wonderful evening drumming and cleared the beach.”

The campaign consisted of daily drum circles lead by musicians from Taal Inc. followed by each participant of #TeraMeraBeach adding one piece from the collected waste to the community art installation. The art installation consists of bottles, cans, papers, cloth etc. collected by the participants during the clean-up drive.

#TeraMeraBeach aims to make visitors responsible and aware of the necessity to use bins along the beach, segregate waste and participate in beach clean-ups. This campaign is supported by Goa Tourism, Video Volunteers, Museum of Goa and Veab to raise awareness on keeping Goa’s beaches clean.

In a bid to improve the cleanliness on Goa’s beaches, the state government had reached out to Drishti Marine in December 2016 to step in and assist with garbage collection along the beaches to support the effort of the government. Accordingly, Drishti Marine has offered its assistance and mobilized manpower and equipment for clearing garbage from the beaches of Goa and the same is transported to the Saligao Waste Management plant. The agency has an existing framework which includes infrastructure and management capability to effectively carry out the exercise along the beaches