AAP objects to heritage adoption scheme in Goa
Panaji, May 1: The AAP in Goa on Tuesday objected to the Central government's decision to allot six heritage sites in the coastal state along with several others throughout the country for adoption by private companies.
"Now they admit that they cannot protect our monuments and want to sell them to outsiders in the name of adoption. They cannot protect our land, our rivers and our rights," Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) state General Secretary Pradeep Padgaonkar told reporters here.
The statement comes a few days after the Central government's decision to privatise heritage conservation, even as the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government in the state has come under fire for promoting hasty conversion of land in natural heritage zones for commercial exploitation.
"Efforts by these vested interests, especially regional ruling alliance partner Goa Forward, to allow adoption of monuments by private companies, in Goa's case by a private lifeguarding company should be stopped," Padgaonkar said.
In Goa, Drishti Marine and V-Resorts have been shortlisted for participation in the 'Monument Mitra' scheme, aimed at developing monuments and heritage sites with the help of private participation for five years.
Drishti Marine is set to adopt key heritage areas like the Old Goa Church complex, Aguada, Cabo de Rama and Chapora fort, a lighthouse and Morjim beach, famous for Olive Ridley turtle nesting sites.
V-Resorts will be adopting the Basilica of Bom Jesus church, which is several centuries old.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
