A RECENT decision of the Goa government to amend the Panchayat Raj Act, 1993, has been opposed by civil society groups. The Goa Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill 2009 empowers the panchayat secretary, a governmentappointed official, to bypass the elected sarpanch and members of the gram sabha while executing government orders.

Unplanned mining blamed for turning monsoon rains into sludge heavy monsoon rains mixed with silt from the mines in North Goa damaged about 100 homes in Bicholim taluka on June 6 and 7. No one died. Survivors said they barely managed to escape in time and lost all their belongings. In the mining belt, silt from the pits dug to extract iron ore is stacked in the open. During

Anti-mining stir leads to a row, death and persecution ON THE morning of March 19, people of Kalane village in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra were roused by the sound of heavy machinery. Workers hired by mining company Minerals and Metals were building a road at 4 am leading up to the mine in Survey Number 57.

State government report stops short of taking action a government inspection of 48 mines in Goa found 35 of them operating without a lease. Some of them did not have mandatory clearances. A committee chaired by the state