HERALD CORRESPONENT

BICHOLIM, AUG 18

Mining waste jams water treatment plants lakhs of people in Tiswadi and Ponda talukas of North Goa are facing water shortage because mining activities in the catchment area of Opa Water Treatment Plant in Ponda are hampering the plant

PANJIM, JULY 6

Efforts by villagers of Ibrampur to drive away the elephants proved futile on Friday, as the wild tuskers were reportedly in the forests of a nearby hillock. According to available reports, villagers and forest officers tried to drive away the elephants into Maharastra, but the attempt proved futile as the wild tuskers were not able to find their way into Maharashtra and returned to the hillock at Ibrampur.

The Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) has tied up with Pune-based Sharmik Sanitations to provide mobile sanitation facilities in the city of Panjim. The Commissioner of the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) Melwyn Vaz disclosed that the corporation proposes to hire mobile toilets to be stationed in public places for he purpose of providing basic sanitation facilities.

Residents of Shivsorem and Colomba in Rivona panchayat on Wednesday strongly opposed the renewal of a mining lease in the village. At a public hearing, organized by the Goa Pollution Control Board (GPCB) at Rivona VKSS Society, Rivona, residents feared that the mining activities would destroy the ecology in the village. Criticizing the environment assessment report submitted by the mining company, Gurudas Gaonkar of Shivsorem claimed that though Shivsorem ward has a population of 400 villagers located barely 25 metres from the mining pit, the ward was not shown in the report.

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

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