Vasu Naik - Journalist
with a Sportsman’s Heart
Vasu is known in the field of journalism
as a journalist who has close association with
people at the grass root level. Throughout his
twenty odd years of career in journalism he has
constantly strived to bring to forefront several
issues of public concern and well being.
Naik joined the field of journalism immediately after finishing his graduation in Arts from
PES college, Ponda. He started his career with
Daily Gomantak in 1991. He joined Gomantak
times the very next year. The following year,
i.e. in 1993 he took over as sports editor of eveninger daily, Vartaman. But his career as a journalist went to its peak after he joined the Daily
Tarun Bharat in 1994. From then
on there was no looking back.
From a local reporter to the
Ponda Bureau Chief of Tarun
Bharat Daily, Vasu’s journey is
worth appreciating and very inspiring. In 19 years of his career
at the popular Marathi daily he
brought to light several problems
faced by Ponda, highlighted and
encouraged many local talents and
made a special mark in the field.
He was felicitated as an accomplished
journalists by several government and non government bodies. But two honors Vasu considers
special -- felicitation by Satara NCP member
Shivendra Raje Bhosle who happens to belong
to the 17th generation of Maratha King Shivaji
and felicitation by Parwadeshwar Baba from
Paroda.
Journalism is Vasu’s profession but cricket
is his passion. He is more popular as an accomplished sportsperson and has several prizes and
awards in cricket to his credit. He started playing cricket for the school team and went on to
represent Goa University.
Vasu’s role as opening batsman in both
Hanuman sports club and Varkhande Tarvale
sports club also brought him and the clubs
many laurels. His dedication to the game of
cricket was so deep rooted that he managed
to find time for his cricket practice from his
hectic schedule as a journalist . He played on
behalf of Goa Union of Journalists team for
several years. He has played several matches in
Garbage Disposal Plant:
Stinking issue of temple town
Vasu Naik a multifaceted veteran journalist from Ponda will
be felicitated by Ponda Journalists association on 1st of August
2014.
Goa, Karwar, Belgaum, Sawantwadi and other
neighbouring areas of Goa. Another feather in
his cap as a cricketer was his selection for Ranji
cricket team in the first round for two years.
From his journalism stint what he takes
pride in discussing is his coverage of the Nylon 66 movement
wherein Goans aggressively opposed the Rs 600 crore Thapar
DuPont nylon 6,6 plant in Ponda
. He was one of the few journalists who reported from ground
zero. “I used to be with the agitators nearly the whole day and
then work till late night and file
my stories. The Nylon 66 agitation gave me a firsthand experience of people power and also
the high handedness of the authorities,” says
Vasu.
Given the tense situation the area faced during the agitation and the associated pressures it
was a tough task. But Vasu took this seemingly
difficult task as a challenge and reported about
the agitation in a completely unbiased manner
giving Goans a true feel of what was happening
on the agitation front.
“Vishnu Wagh the present MLA of St. Andre has been very supportive in my early days
of journalism, “ says Vasu adding that journalism during those days was entirely different
from what it is now.
After spending the most fruitful years
of his life in Journalism Vasu took a decision to quit his job in the field on principal
grounds. He continues to be a freelance journalist but gives major part of his time for his
own marketing business which is picking
up at a fast pace due to his hard work and
dedication.
Cont. from pg 1
council was unable to get necessary clearances from the public
works department (PWD).
Alleging dilly-dallying by the PWD, the PMC had decided to
hand over the construction work of its garbage treatment plant at
Kerye-Khandepar over to Goa state urban development authority (GSUDA) in October 2012. The civic body had also written
to GSUDA about its decision. However, the locals opposed the
construction of the plant at the Kerye.
Besides the Kerye plot, PMC has another land at Bondbag
ward and the council had its landfill at the site. But locals opposed garbage dumping at this site too. In August 2013, about
100 locals of Bondbag sent back two trucks loaded with plastic
preventing the dumping of plastic in the landfill site owned by
the council.
A similar incident of sending back truckloads of garbage from
the dumping site occurred on July 28, 2008. Residents claimed
that the dumping of garbage at the site had resulted in the decomposition of bio-degradable waste in rainwater. At this time
even a PMC councilor joined the agitators. She argued that the
site had turned the lives of the people residing near the landfill
site miserable.
The site is being situated on the border of the PMC area and
Bethora panchayat, Bethora locals have also opposed the dumping through their gram sabhas on several occasions. In March
2013 the council attempted to remove the decomposed waste
from the landfill site and have it dumped at Khandepar. However, Khandepar locals also opposed this move. Seven trucks with
mud from the Bondbag landfill site were supposed to unload the
mud for filling up the approach roads of the proposed parallel
bridge on Khandepar River.
Meantime, PWD minister Ramkrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar
has announced that the government is planning to set up a 2.5
tonne capacity garbage treatment plant at an estimated cost of
2.5 crore as a permanent solution to the garbage woes of Ponda
town. But with locals from Bondbag and Khandepar being up in
arms against garbage being dumped in their respective areas, it
looks like the garbage issue will continue to haunt the people of
Ponda