Editor, Goemkarponn
AERIAL VIEW
Goa is known as a destination to party, wherein lakhs of tourists come for the party due to its vibrant nightlife, isn’t it? At least that is what your Tourism department is projecting Goa overseas and elsewhere in the country. Or wait a minute, I may be wrong here as Goa is being projected as a Casino destination. Right?
Leave tourism aside, but we Goans do party and drink alcohol, which is in most Goans’s blood and cannot be changed overnight. And mind you drinking alcohol is not illegal in Goa, but “drunk driving is”. So what efforts have the government made to resolve this issue?
In Mumbai, we have drivers at night who can be hired to drop you back home in case you are drunk. Do we have such a facility here? No.
SURAJ NANDREKAR
Editor, Goemkarponn
The tragic Zuari bridge accident, which claimed four innocent lives, has liked up a storm in the State, with the public blaming the government for the quality of bridges and roads while the government blamed the commuters for irresponsible driving.
The weirdest of comments came from Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant, who said that 95 per cent of the accidents on Goan roads are due to drunk driving. We do not know where the CM came out with such figures.
If the CM has such sharp figures on drunk driving, he must also tell Goans how many cases have been booked for drunk driving by the cops and how many were let off by taking a bribe? Why are there no cops on the important points like Zuari bridge at night?
Simply blaming people for drunk driving would not help as the police have failed miserably to control the rash driving and traffic violators.
Goa is known as a destination to party, wherein lakhs of tourists come for the party due to its vibrant nightlife, isn’t it? At least that is what your Tourism department is projecting Goa overseas and elsewhere in the country. Or wait a minute, I may be wrong here as Goa is being projected as a Casino destination. Right?
Leave tourism aside, but we Goans do party and drink alcohol, which is in most Goans’s blood and cannot be changed overnight. And mind you drinking alcohol is not illegal in Goa, but “drunk driving is”. So what efforts have the government made to resolve this issue?
In Mumbai, we have drivers at night who can be hired to drop you back home in case you are drunk. Do we have such a facility here? No.
Further, the Chief Minister’s statement that instead of having bars, one must have libraries in the house to inculcate reading habits in children is also uncalled for.
Does the CM mean to say that those who have bar counters in the house, their children become drunkards? Mr CM Goans do drink, but they are disciplined drinkers and do it openly, unlike elsewhere in the country, wherein everything happens in a hidden way.
Yes, reading books is good, and we appreciate your concern for children, but the remarks seem to have come at the wrong time when Goa is mourning the deaths of four innocent lives. Instead of consoling the family, you decided to say that the “accident was due to drink and drive”. Your comments seemed like targetting a particular section of society.
Instead of blaming X, Y or Z, you may do good by taking the contractors, engineers and ministers to task over the poor quality of works being carried out on Goan roads.
Did you ever make an effort to find out why the condition of Goan roads is so bad? No, because that does not fit your agenda.
The corrupt ministers and engineers take hefty commissions from the contractors, who are left with the petty amount to complete the project. Why not bring in a law wherein the contractors could be jailed for potholes like the DB Marg in Panaji?
Arrest the contractor, and he will spill the beans. You don’t need to investigate much; the contractor himself will tell you who all had taken the commission and how much hot-mix was used for the carpet.
It is easy to get away with things blaming the people for drunk driving and satisfying one’s ego, but Mr CM, if you want to go to the root cause of the accidents in Goa, stop blaming people and act on contractors, engineers and ministers who are become parasites eating into the State treasury.
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