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Enescil, a Brazilian engineering firm requires Engineers, Architects and Draftsmen, proficient in AutoCAD, for their new office in Goa Those interested can email enescil....@gmail.com by 15 November 2011 Selected candidates will be sent to Brazil for 2 months training --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Samir Umarye PANAJI: The famous Lairai temple with the tank of Dhondachi Tolli<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/tank-of-Dhondachi-Tolli>as its inextricable link during the centuries-old annual traditional zatra is missing <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Missing> in the Regional Plan 2021 for Sirigao village, said residents. "Lairai temple and Dhondachi Tolli, the famous water tank in which special devotees, Dhonds, bathe after religious rituals has not been shown in the plans," said Dinanath Gaonkar. The annual zatra is famous for its fire walking ritual. While the villagers scanned the recently-notified plan, they found some omissions. "We want the discrepancies to be removed," Gaonkar said. Though some proposals of the village-level committee (VLC) have been accepted, suggestions earmarking space of a crematorium, a community hall and facilities for sports <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Sports>activities have been ignored. "The planners should have realized that the village is hardly 3sq km," Ramesh Gawas, a Bicholim-based social activist said. The settlement zone, temples and the area of zatra and fairs sits choc-a-bloc in the land within the two mines operated by two mining companies. The mining activities occupy a total area of 270 hectares. Though some water bodies are shown, a grazing land for the villagers' cattle has not been earmarked despite VLC's recommendations. The VLC had revised the draft plan. All paddy fields in the 80-acre patch of eco-sensitive zone-1 are shown as cultivable areas. "They are shown as eco-2, and their status is deliberately reduced to allow development, though with approval of authorities," Gawas alleged. The existing 4.5m main road from Assonora to Sirigao is proposed as a 15-metre road till the culvert, 10m wide for a further 200m stretch and 25m broad in settlement areas of Sirigao. "This is strange logic but it is done to help transportation of ore," a villager said. A new road has been proposed in a no development zone from the mining areas in Sirigao to Mulgao. "Requests from mining companies appear to have been accommodated," Gawas alleged. Another 10m road proposed through eco-sensitive areas along the banks of Assonora river had drawn strong opposition from villagers earlier. "We have already lost a lot of paddy land and this road for ore transportation will reclaim more area," Gaonkar said. A buffer zone is clearly demarcated for one of the two mines. "But it is only mentioned in the plan in the other case but not demarcated," Gaonkar added. Though a forest cover is shown as no development zone, roads are proposed on its slopes. Micro industrial zones are also shown in the mining area, which has upset the villagers. Though some natural bodies are shown and others omitted, a water pond near a mining lease, where cattle are often seen, is prominently shown. "This pond was formed due to pumping of water by the mining company from its pit," Gawas said. "The omission of water bodies and some other things in the plan appear to be planned blunders," Gawas added.(ToI) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---------------------------------------------------------------------------