Delay in monsoon pushes rainfall deficiency to 45% in first 9 days of June

The rainfall deficiency in June could be higher due to the sluggish pace of the monsoon and a weak El Niño, a phenomenon associated with heating of Pacific waters.

A delay in the arrival of monsoon has pushed the country’s rainfall deficiency in the first nine days of June to 45 per cent, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Monsoon made an onset over Kerala on June 8, a week after its normal arrival date. This has also delayed its arrival in different parts of the country. The country received only 17.7 millimetres of rainfall as against the normal precipitation of 32.4 millimetres, which comes to around 45 per cent, it said.

The rainfall deficiency in June could be higher due to the sluggish pace of the monsoon and a weak El Niño, a phenomenon associated with heating of Pacific waters.

An on-going cyclonic circulation in the Arabian Sea could slow down the progress of monsoon over the next few days, it said. “A low pressure area has formed over southeast Arabian Sea and Lakshadweep area and east central Arabian Sea.

It is very likely to concentrate into a depression during the next 48 hours over southeast and adjoining east central Arabian Sea. It is very likely to move north-northwestwards and intensify further into a cyclonic storm subsequently,” the IMD data said.

Of the four meteorological divisions of the country, the deficiency was 66 per cent — the highest in the country — in central India that covers the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

Gujarat and Kutch and Saurashtra sub-divisions of central India have clocked a deficiency of 100 per cent, it said.

Business Standard

Goa pledges to make state free of plastic and pollution on Liberation Day

Goa was freed from the Portuguese dominion on December 19, 1961 after a freedom movement and Army operation. It was granted full statehood in 1987.

On the 57th Liberation Day of Goa, the state government Wednesday appealed to the people to make the coastal state free of plastic and pollution.

Various programmes were held across Goa to mark the occasion.

In absence of ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, Legislative Assembly Speaker Pramod Sawant unfurled the national flag at the official function held here this morning.

Parrikar, 63, has been recuperating at his private residence near here since October 14, after he was discharged from Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Goa was freed from the Portuguese dominion on December 19, 1961 after a freedom movement and Army operation. It was granted full statehood in 1987.

In his 10-minute speech made in Konkani, Sawant touched upon Parrikar's inability to attend the event on medical grounds.(Business Standard )

"The state government is trying hard to make Goa plastic and pollution free, but the efforts can become fruitful only with the active participation of citizens. On this day, let us take the pledge to make Goa free of plastic and pollution", he said.

Lakhs of tourists visit Goa every year for its picturesque beaches.

The problem of plastic items being dumped haphazardly by tourists at various beaches is a cause of concern for the administration as well as environmentalists.

During his address, Sawant listed out various developmental programmes, infrastructural works and employment generating initiatives taken up by the BJP-led government with the help of the Centre.

"Completion of two bridges over Mandovi and Zuari rivers, in addition to the existing ones (bridges), will help streamline flow of traffic from North Goa to South Goa", the speaker said.

Sawant also recalled the sacrifices made by freedom fighters and citizens to get Goa liberated from the 450-year rule of the Portuguese in 1961.

He also hailed the Indian armed forces for pushing the Portuguese military out of the state in 1961.

Meanwhile, addressing a gathering in Margao in south Goa, GFP leader and state Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai stressed the need to liberate oneself from "regressive ideas, pseudo activism, external interference and patronising attitudes".

"Liberation of Goa happened in 1961, but we should remember that liberation is a continuous process and it can never be over", said the minister whose Goa Forward Party (GFP) is one of the constituents of the BJP-led coalition government in the coastal state.

"Only adversaries have changed since 1961. We have new threats from inside and outside. We also have to liberate ourselves from our prejudices, negativity, dogmas and petty rivalries. We should also liberate ourselves from dependence to take Goa forward", he said.

Underlining the need for "neo-liberation", the minister said, "we need neo revolutionaries, neo-activists and neo-Goemkars (Goans)".

Why we shouldn't be blaming the Indian tourist alone for Goa's troubles

By playing the victim card, Goans abdicate their responsibility for the self-created mess that they find themselves mired in.

Tourism in Goa has been in the news recently. A piece in a weekly conveyed Goans’ sense of outraged desperation at the behaviour of Indian tourists visiting Goa. Vijai Sardesai, the minister for town and country planning, was quoted calling a section of tourists’ ‘scum of the earth’.

The annual number of tourists visiting Goa is more than five times its 14.5 lakh population. Reports like the one in Open indicate that Goa is finding it difficult to keep its head above the surge. At the same time, a local newspaper has suggested that 35% of the population in Goa now consists of migrants. Are these the fount of Goa’s problems?

Goa is like a veritable pie that everyone wants a piece of. Drawn by its beauty and, the much spoken of laid-back lifestyle, there is a steady influx of people making the state their home. These features attract tourists too. Others come in search of employment. It comes as no surprise, then, that property is a gold mine and land is coveted. Not only are Goans selling, converting or renting their old houses, but land too is being converted for commercial and residential purposes.

With Goans migrating and families becoming smaller and residing in different parts of the world, maintaining properties is no longer easy. Selling it, therefore, becomes the best way to cash in and divvy-up the proceeds before the land is usurped while renting properties becomes a source of income and also ensures that they are maintained.

The Economic Survey 2017-18 finds double-digit percentage growth in the construction sector over previous years in most years between 2012-13 and 2016-17. During a low growth year in the construction industry, electricity/gas/water services – basic requirements for sale of new construction – have shown double-digit growth. That there has been no corresponding dip in this sector is intriguing, to say the least. At the same time, an official from the directorate of census operations has stated that one out of every five houses remains unoccupied.

Does the much vaunted susegado approach of the Goan cloak a desire to make hay at all times? During colonial and pre-liberalisation times, the landed were unable to sell or convert their property because of the poor economy. Pre-liberation Goa ran mostly on remittances from Goans working outside the state and from agriculture. Others were employed in the Portuguese bureaucracy or were involved in import/export. Smuggling from then Bombay also helped.

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