Goemkarponn desk
CANANCONA: Dead and partially dead trees existing on the roadsides in Canacona and adjacent areas have been posing constant danger to the life of the commuters since long time now as these trees remain as they are inspite of they being so visible to the naked eye of the authorities.
The central and the state government is so concerned about the wellbeing of its citizens that it is spending billions of rupees to protect its citizens to save them from dying due to Covid-19.
If one looks at the statistical data of the deaths that happened due to Covid-19 and road accidents, the deaths caused due to road accidents is on an average one lakh fifty thousand per year in recent times while the deaths due to Covid-19 were in similar figures in 2020.
The deaths because of Covid-19 get much publicity while the road accidents of which deaths due to falling of dead trees or branches is also a cause gets space only on page three or four of newspapers.
While the ageing and unhealthy people are the victims of Covid-19 in most cases, the road accident victims are mostly healthy youths between the age group of 25 to 45.
Socky Da’ Silva who always raises his voice over such public interest matters says that he fails to understand why these dead or partially trees are not removed in time, has someone has to lose his or her life due to the inefficiency of the government or its servants? he questioned.
The roads may they be village, District, State or National, they come under the jurisdiction of the PWD, is it not mandatory for them to identify the weak trees and remove them by bringing it to the notice of the administration concerned? Da’ Silva asked.
Diogo Da’ Silva who is a social activist from Canacona taluka informed this correspondent that he himself has written umpteen number of times about this dead and other ailing trees, after persistently following up with the Canacona deputy collector who happens to be the head of local disaster management committee, a few trees got removed and others equally or more dangerous are still waiting to fall on innocent commuters Da’ Silva lamented.
Anil Bhagat another social activist and a senior citizen pointed out such dangerously dangling trees on the NH66 from Polem to Margao and on almost all other roads in the taluka.
“In developed countries the victims or the families of the victims sue the government and its staff for such lapses, we have to be proactive and take the concerned minister and his ineffective staff to task over such matters Bhagat said.
When this correspondent asked the local PWD authorities on why and when they will clear these dangerous trees, they were non committal on their reply.