AND a few stray thoughts for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday following the week when Goa is witnessing an acute water shortage of drinking water, even if it is pouring outside. For a Saturday following the week when there’s an ongoing war between Israel and Iran over the Palestine issue. For a Saturday following the week with the continued speculation about what caused the crash of the Air India Dreamliner in Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025.
WATER SHORTAGE
AND a few stray thoughts on Goa witnessing an acute water shortage of drinking water, even if it is pouring outside. This is not due to a shortage of rain or lack of storage facilities at the reservoirs. The water supply crisis is due to gross mismanagement in water distribution. This is compounded by the negligence of the contractors. The route, of course, is through an ancient infrastructure. Many of the pipelines are more than 30 years old and need to be urgently replaced.
The Public Works Department (PWD) has not been able to replace the pipelines. The pipelines also get damaged by the constant digging of roadways (even newly laid ones), with other infrastructural work like laying underground cables for power supply for telecom companies.
There is no coordination between the various agencies that dig up underground pathways for infrastructure, including water power and telecom. Most parts of Goa do not get a water supply for more than two hours a day. So much so that buildings that do not have storage tanks cannot survive. It has been reported that there have been over 700 complaints of breakdown in water supply since the PWD introduced a new mobile app. There have been 338 complaints of drinking water supply and/or total breakdown.
In Taleigao, drinking water supply got mixed up with underground sewage pipes, leading to contamination. The problem took over two months to be resolved. There has again been a complete breakdown in water supply to Tiswadi, including capital city Panaji, because of a breakdown in the 750mm main pipeline of the 40 million liters per day water treatment plant at Opa.
Ironically, Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant has been talking about ensuring free water supply 24×7 in the near future. It is tragic that even five decades after Liberation, a basic requirement like drinking water is not available to Goans and migrant communities, the systems have not been put into place by successive governments in Goa.
ISRAEL VERSUS IRAN
AND a few stray thoughts on the ongoing war between Israel and Iran over the Palestine issue. Israel has become the target of the Israeli war machine because it has been extending support to the people of Palestine. The war has escalated as it is the backing of the United States’ President Donald Trump, who is a very strong supporter of Israel and has a mistrust of Islamic countries. Iran is considered a major threat because it is one of the few Islamic countries that has nuclear facilities to make a bomb. Not surprisingly, Israel considers Iran the biggest threat to its continued existence. In the last two weeks, Israel has launched massive attacks specifically targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities.
In the process, several top nuclear scientists have been killed. Israel apparently even wanted to target the supreme leader of Iran, Ruhollah Khomeini. Indeed, Donald Trump claims to have advised Israel against targeting the Iranian leader. Iran, on its part, has launched a major counterattack against Israel. It is claimed that Israel even launched a drone attack on the residence of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The root of the conflict goes back to the formation of the state of Israel after the Second World War. Israel was created by carving out a small chunk of territory belonging to the Arabs. Israel, which has the backing of big business in the US, owned by Jews, started expanding beyond its borders into Palestine, which was occupied by Arabs. This led to several Arab terror groups launching attacks on Israel.
Now though Iran and Israel are engaged in a high-tech war involving drones, there is no attempt at forcing a ceasefire despite a shockingly huge number of deaths and casualties. Donald Trump is looking at the clash between Israel and Iran as an opportunity to take control of Iran, which is one of the biggest petroleum-producing countries in the world. The BJP government in India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been supporting Israel against Palestine.
The Indian defense forces used Israeli equipment during Operation Sindoor. India has refused to condemn Israel for its acts of terror against Iran and the Arabs in Palestine. In the United States, Donald Trump has ordered a crackdown on protests against Israel in support of Palestine. Protesting students have been expelled, and universities like Harvard have been denied funds for supporting Palestine.
The American policy is dictated by its deep distress over the Muslim world. In fairness, however, it should be considered that Muslims are the most fanatical religious group in modern-day society. The extreme forms of Islam, including the Shariat law practiced by Iran, are the main source of terror for both its own citizans and the rest of the world.
AI BOEING DREAMLINER
AND a few stray thoughts on the continued speculation about what caused the crash of the Air India Boeing Dreamliner in Ahmedabad. The Boeing Company, which manufactured the Dreamliner, has started an online campaign blaming pilots’ error as the cause of the crash. This is to counter perceptions that it was the failure of both engines that led to the crash.
BJP chamchas get upset with a post suggesting that it was a double-engine failure that led to the crash within 30 seconds of takeoff. This is because Narendra Modi keeps talking about double-engine growth in BJP-ruled states like Goa.
Since the bodies were charred, the rescue authorities have not been able to conclusively identify the dead bodies. The only parts of the body that survive a fire are the teeth and the bones. So it is the 54 experts from the Forensic Science Laboratories in Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot who are trying to identify the victims through DNA samples of victims’ remains. The progress is painfully slow as only 119 bodies have been identified, and 76 bodies have been handed over to the families, including that of former chief minister of Gujarat, Vijay Rupani.
But besides the 241 people on board the Air India Dreamliner, it is learnt that at least 29 doctors and five medical students of the BJ medical college lost their lives when the Dreamliner crashed into the residential students’ hostel. The quarters of members of the faculty and their families was also impacted by the crash. While there have been lots of reports, photographs and interviews with the families of the plane crash victims in both the print and electronic media, there is total silence over the medicos who lost their lives as part of collateral damage. There are very few names or photographs of the medical college victims in news reports over television of in publications. No statements by the college survivors or injured are to be found in any media. Also there are no official statement from the Parsley Charitable Trust which runs the BJ Medical College & Hospital. Never mind it is the doctors of the victimized hospital who came to the rescue of the lone aircraft passenger who had a lucky escape to live and who are now engaged in carrying out the DNA tests to establish the identity of the crash victims of the aircraft.
We only hope the Tata’s will also compensate the doctors who became victims of the air crash and rebuild the damaged structures of the hospital structure, including the students’ hostel which bore maximum brunt of the air crash. The reputation of the Tata’s has been very badly damaged by the first-ever crash of the Air India Boeing Dreamliner. Reportedly, Air India has a total fleet of 35 Dreamliner jumbo aircraft.
WORK-LIFE BALANCE!
b In addition, employers must provide 24 hours of rest during a seven-day working week. All employers are also required to provide a minimum of four weeks of paid annual leave. This rule apply to the most productive countries in the world, including Germany, France, Sweden, UK and Norway. Overtime is also regulated and cannot exceed a total of ten hours a week.
In the IT industry where Narayan Murthy wants Infosys workers to work 10 hours a day and also on Sundays, in Sweden and Europe, IT companies allow flexible working hours. Generally, the core hours between 10am and 3pm. Overtime is discouraged and is compensated with pay or overtime. Coffee and social breaks are part of the work culture. Longer hours do not necessarily means higher productivity. In fact, it is the other way around as the stress is on working smart instead of longer hours.
POLITICAL CORRUPTION
AND a last stray thought on the Sessions Court directing the Anti-corruption Bureau to file an FIR on the basis of the allegation made by former minister Pandurang Madkaikar. Madkaikar had a complaint about widespread corruption and revealed that he had to pay Rs15-Rs20 lakh to get his file cleared. Both Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and party president Damu Naik have dismissed the claim of Pandurang Madkaikar.
The complaint were filed by the controversial Kashinath Shetye, who was removed from the post of executive engineer in the Electricity Department. When the police refused to register an FIR, the complainants approached the Sessions Court. Now the Sessions Court has directed the police to register an FIR and investigate the charges of Pandurang Madkaikar.
Incidentally, Pandurang Madkaikar himself has been accused of building a huge palace in the heritage zone where the Bom Jesus Basilica is sited. Pandurang Madkaikar is a close confidant of Babush Monserrate and was a minister in the Manohar Parrikar government.