Let’s Bring Back The Frozen Project!

Mr. Uday Lodh, President, State Petroleum Dealers Association expressing his views

             May it be too late; may it be days after the fair; but they gathered under one roof. They protested the protest and talked much to bring it back. Their voice may have a little sound, but their solemn resolution had the ability to reach the goal crossing the walls of the auditorium. They were the supporters of the frozen refinery project that was to be erected near the west coast of Maharashtra, in the rural circuit of Nanar in Ratnagiri district.  

             A meeting of the supporters of Ratnagiri Refinery and Petroleum Corporation Ltd (RRPCL) was organized at Ambar Hall at Ratnagiri, on last Saturday. A power point presentation focusing on the development potential of RRPCL was made by Mr. Keshav Bhat, retd deputy engineer, MIDC. Following it Mr. Avinash Mahajan addressed to reveal the modus operandi of the protesters and stated how pointless were the issues raised by them. A few speakers stated their views and urged that the people of Konkan must become optimistic.

             Mr. Bhat systematically stated the outline of the structure of the factory. He explained how the project would help creation of a large magnitude of employment opportunity, growth of allied industry and regional economic development. Mr. Bhat said, “A refinery requires close sea shore, desert table land and easy accessibility to a port. The venue selected was fulfilling these. This largely invested factory had a potential to promote at least 150 to 200 thousand jobs in infrastructure development and around 80 to 100 thousand jobs after erection. Despite this it will help growth of allied industry, construction business, hotel and IT sector; as well as auxiliary and health services in the surrounding region.” Mr. Bhat also told that the huge industry would bring quality educational and skill training facility; and promote establishment of research and technological development centers.     

            RRPCL was proposed with a claim of as huge as INR 30 thousand billion of investment; and could fetch to the state a GDP growth of 10% and 1.5% to the country. It could produce petroleum fuel complying BS VI standard of which 80 t0 90 per cent was to be carried through pipeline to reduce transportation cost and risk of danger. The factory could produce zero effluent and a system to monitor ambient air quality of the surrounding area was to be deployed. The Konkan people have lost grand socio economic development opportunity, the meeting concluded. The speakers and audience deeply regretted for wrong political pressure and sightless agitation.

Sanskrit Is The Identity Of Indian People

Sanskrit is the language of the universe, it is the language of cosmic atmosphere, said Baldevanand Sagar, famous Sanskrit news reader of All India Radio (AIR) during his visit to Ratnagiri. Sagar has been invited by Gogate Jogalekar College, Ratnagiri as Guest of Honour for Mahakavi Kalidas Series Of Lectures. The lectures will be delivered on 1 nd 2 March. On the eve of the series he had an informal interaction with journalists and media persons in Ratnagiri when he spoke about the linguistic power and comprehensiveness of Sanskrit. "Sanskrit is the bedrock of our culture, it is our very identity,” said Mr. Sagar.     Read more

(In photo : Mr. Baldevanand Sagar, photo : Makarand Patwardhan)

Will Konkan Leaders Strive To Drag Funds?

     Konkan never gets center place in State budget. This year is not an exception. The budget stated by Finance Minister Sudheer Mungantiwar has not directly granted any scheme for the development of the narrow belt of Konkan. However, if they think about, the political leaders of this land can drag a lot from several funds declared by the minister.

        Although Konkan is famous for substantial rain, water scarcity is increasingly tightening its clutches. Last monsoon was not satisfactory and several villages have been enlisted as to be drought shaded. They must get aids. The farm pond scheme is useless for Konkan as the land is already divided in small pieces. Especially the size of ponds is needed to be reduced. The minister proposed a provision to support farmers does not include mango cultivators. They have not yet received arrears of compensation promised long back.
     The Konkan farmer cannot enjoy loan waiving as he does not lend for cultivation. He cannot enjoy special subsidy as he does not own required land to comply the norms. He cannot even drag attention and sympathy as he does not commit suicide. Finally he remains as he was. The local public servants have to strive more than they do for protesting a project to come this region.

    The provision proposed by Finance Minister for PM Jan Arogya Scheme are worth welcome, but the problem of the Konkan belt is that the public health centers do not have adequate staff. On one hand the posts of medical officers are vacant and on the other hand appointed medical officers do not join or leave soon.  

    We welcome substantial provision made for road construction and communication projects and hope the rural roads will be well repaired and newly built wherever necessary. However the government claims of completion of 12,984 km of national highways, why did the four laning work of the only national highway of Konkan, the Mumbai Goa Kochi Road walk heavily? They would blame on public protest that prolonged the settlement of compensation and affected land acquisition; then what happened that let the construction of dual bridges stalled for years?

    The minister made specific mention of four railway lines in Marathwada and North Maharashtra. Two more lines to connect Konkan to the rest of the state are also awaiting funds. Perhaps they will be more helpful for the concept of dry ports than those mentioned by the minister.

     We thank the minister for including the name of Ratnagiri, a major district town in the konkan region as well as of Sindhudurg for speedier work of airports. Considering the threat of terrorist activities the most priority to this work is essential.

    The minister should have spoken about ports and harbours. Voyage on ship is now simply a past for Konkan. Don’t be nostalgic. But fisheries, a major sector of Konkan economy is badly in need of proper infrastructure of fishing jetties and cold storages. In the national budget the Finance Minister of the country had stated an idea to establish a separate fisheries department which was warmly welcomed by the people of Konkan. The idea does not seem to be reflected in the State budget.

   Therefore it comes to the regional leadership to keenly study and divert sufficient monetary aids to Konkan. Otherwise the narrow paradise land belt will continue to live with the want of development and its people poverty stricken.  

500 STUDENTS EXAMINED IN FREE MEDICAL CAMP

In a grand FREE MEDICAL CHECK UP CAMP at Mandangad, 500+ middleschool and highschool students were examined by Dr. Chandrashekahar S. Masurkar, President of the Trust. He was assisted by Dr. Miss. Sana Solkar. The camp was organized jointly with the help of  S.S. Tambe Charitable Trust and Krushna Sarvajanik Pratisthan at Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar High School, Mandangad. 

Dr. C.S. Masurkar told that most of the students come from rural and hilly area. Considering the local need thereof he throughly checked the students especially for skin diseases, animic conditon, digestion problems and malnourishment. Dr. Miss Sana contributed to both physical examination of girls and their counselling for special care to be taken in growing age. 

In spite of activities throughout the year the month of February being his death anniversary month, is specially observed in the memory of  Late Dr. S. S. Masurkar by organizing programmmes such as medical camp and theatre performance. 

Prizes to the students securing top rank in English, Sanskrut and Mathematics in the S.S.C. examination have been declared this year. The prizes will be distributed after the name of Late Smt. Bhaminee S. Masurkar, founding patron of the Trust who passed away on 14 Oct 2018. Initially the prizes of INR 500/- each will be given to the complying students of Keshavshet Lende English Medium School, Mandangad and P. D. Vidyalay, Kelshi. 

As a part of the Trust activity, Mr. Rajendraprasad S.Masurkar, Managing Trutee delivered a speech and PPT presentation on Career Guidance before the students of P.D. Vidyalay and Junior College at Kelshi. 

The trustees have also decided to establish a library and reading room at Golap, a village along Ratnagiri Vengurle coastal highway.

Please visit - https://drmasurkartrust.webs.com/

All the Efforts To Enable Them To Speak English……..!

• A crash course of Spoken English was organized by the Govt B. Ed. College at Ratnagiri
• Despite their competency of teaching skill most of the students need an ability to talk English
• Madam Principal expressed satisfaction for realization of her dream project 

No longer may British Empire exist, the language of those rulers is still ruling over the world. The ability to communicate in English has its special importance in all affairs. The number of students adopting English as the medium of instruction right from their first day in the school is ever growing. However there is yet a great magnitude of people with fear of this language, especially when it comes to conversation. What Government College of Education at Ratnagiri did in the last week was exactly to remove this fear. A very rapid crash course of Spoken English was organized by the college to enable the ‘to be teacher students’ of the college speak fluent English.

Read More On Events Page

“Saving One Life Will Lead To Safer Traffic”

·         Role of trucking and logistics in industrial development.

·         Regional economic transformation brought by JSW.

·         Road Safety Training and Awareness programmes for truck operators.

Trucking and logistics play significant role in industrial development. ‘JSW Port Ltd,’ located at Jaigarh, dist. Ratnagiri, a Konkan coastal region of Western India that is visited by over four hundred trucks every day has transformed the district industrial scenario to a growing economy. In spite of developing a large tiled base for parking hundreds of huge lorries and providing with standard amenities for halting truck operators the company also regularly organizes Road Safety Training and Awareness programmes for them. One such programme was recently arranged in which an educative slide show was presented by ‘Motor Jagat’ and ‘Masurkars’ Academy.’

              Saving One Life

Citizens Of Ratnagiri Walk For Safer Roads

Marathon has become a keyword for conveying messages to the masses. Government of Maharashtra made its perfect use to carry the message of ROAD SAFETY, NO HONKING and RESPONSIBLE DRIVING. Sunday morning was enthusiastically spent by as much as 300 thousand people in the state to respond government organized ‘WALKTHON 2018.’ Ratnagiri, a major district town in coastal Konkan led to participate with an involvement of hundreds of citizens including considerable transport personnel.   
                                                         (Read More On EVENTS PAGE)

FAMILY HOME

On the way to the famous Adiware Mahakali temple, in the district of Ratnagiri, a palatial building along the road attracts your attention. It is ‘Tawde Sadan’, the home to the stock of the Tawdes. Being erected by ‘Kshatriya Maratha Tawde Hitwardhak Mandal’, under the leadership of Mr. Santosh Tawde, eminent architect, the huge building is aimed to be the home of the Tawdes on Konkan tour, their community programmes and the shrine of their community goddess, Lord Saptkoteshwara.

The marvelous structure stands on a spacious piece of land. It is built of locally available red laterite stone. Constructed in north Indian style the building is erected without using cement concrete and fitting the load bearings with traditional technique of wedging perfectly measured key stones. The arches, the walls and even the roofs are absolutely free from any cementing material. Several windows decorated with specially designed banisters and large doors with dual wooden frames are evident enough not only to reflect its prodigy but also the painstaking long term labour of the grand team of skillful artisans.

The two storied mansion houses a spacious hall at its centre, eight decent residential rooms on each floor, and a cooking space with a dining hall in the backside basement. In front of the stately home an artistic garden provides the visitor a delightful mood and the back corners of the avenue put on the views of lovely sunset.   

PAST AND PRESENT

Having their roots in Rajasthan the Tawdes belonged to the warrior Rajput race. With the decline of Jainism in the early 11^th century aroused the Kshatriya dynasties such as Kadam-Tawde. During the Mogul rule Adiware division had been administered from Pune. The Tawdes had their dwellings in Adiware and fourteen surrounding hamlets. They stamped out the coercive recovery campaigns of the Mogul officials. Failed to curb the brave community, the emperor’s lieutenants once caught men of Tawdes enjoying sea bathing and slaughtered them all. Their wives ended their lives on the pyres of sacred sati.  An only woman escaped as she was moved to another place for the period of her pregnancy, which brought forth a son that sustained the stock of the Tawdes. Due to the fear of the oppressive rulers’ dread she perhaps never returned to Adiware and the signs of the community had been annihilated from the neighbourhood of the famous place of goddess Kali.

Although not a single house of a Tawde exists in the area, a few persons of the community being intent of the affinity to their very native place, sought to create a noble monument of their brave ancestors at Adiware. It was Mr. Santosh Govind Tawde who stated the idea of a FAMILY HOME that would resort all Tawdes under its grand roof and would create a strong band of fraternity. An architect by occupation Mr. Santosh Tawde thoroughly studied the structures of monumental buildings in the country and abroad and prepared the plan of this prodigious mansion.

The half hector plot to the north of Adiware village is being carefully utilized to accommodate this majestic building of ‘Tawde Atithi Bhavan’ with sizable open space around. It would be a splendid blend of historic and modern architecture, as the community strives to trace their prosperous past; and a combination of Rajasthan grace as they had their origin in that state and local building material as they hold intense affection to Adiware, the land of their accomplishment.