Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: AAP Working President Valmiki Naik strongly criticised Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for his recent statements during the government’s Road Safety Week program. Addressing a press conference at AAP’s Panaji office, Naik slammed the CM’s statement that 80% of accidents in Goa are due to intoxication, calling the statement false and irresponsible.
Naik stated, “Goa Police collects detailed accident data. The CM should have consulted these statistics before making such bizarre claims. CM should answer how many accidents in Goa are due to his own failures such as potholes, bad road engineering, and lack of proper lighting and signages.”
“Does the CM mean to say that 80% of Goans involved in accidents are driving drunk? He should be ashamed of making such a statement,” Naik added.
Naik also criticised the CM’s suggestion to use public transport to reduce accidents. “Where is public transport in Goa? A report by the National Sample Survey Office reveals that Goa ranks second worst in public transport availability after Arunachal Pradesh. The BJP has been in power for 10 years, yet they have failed to improve public transport,” he remarked. Naik noted that the state’s car ownership rate is a whopping 45%, compared to the national average of just 7.5%, as Goans have no other transport options.
Advising CM Sawant to learn from AAP, Naik revealed that the Bhagwant Mann Govt in Punjab has managed to reduce traffic accident deaths by a whopping 45% by introducing a Sadak Suraksha Force. Naik shared that this road safety force consists of 144 vehicles and 1,600 personnel whose sole task is to monitor 4,000 kms of Punjab’s roads. Besides ensuring safe driving and deterring traffic violations, the SSF has been trained to reach accident sites within 6-8 minutes of the phone call, thus saving hundreds lives since its inception just 10 months ago.
AAP leader Cecille Rodrigues gave the example of an incident involving her own mother who suffered serious injuries due to a potholes road.
“Goa’s road conditions are worsening day by day. Common men and women are suffering due to complete apathy of the BJP Govt”, she said.
Rodrigues called on CM Sawant to resign if he cannot handle the PWD portfolio.
“If the CM is serious about saving lives, he should start road safety committees with the help of citizens to ensure that the traffic accident rates in Goa are brought under control,” she said.
