AERIAL VIEW
Their negligence has deprived two children of their mother’s love and care. Also, the father is critically injured with multiple fractures. So who is responsible for this situation? The PWD, the Fire Brigade or disaster management? Why does disaster management not take preventive measures? Why does disaster management come into place only after a disaster?
Why can the roadside trees not be pruned or the dangerous trees be cut?
Sources in the electricity department and the PWD have blamed the Forest department as they do not grant permission for cutting down such trees.
State and civic authorities can be held liable to pay compensation for death or injury caused due to failure to maintain facilities or negligence in duties.
SURAJ NANDREKAR
Editor, Goemkarponn
The tragic accident on Wednesday, August 10, wherein a huge tree fell on the moving scooter of a couple in Shiroda, has sent shivers down the spine of every road commuter in the State.
Normally, we see hundreds of fatal accidents every year, but this seems to be a different and shocking one. There was nobody’s fault.
We can term the whole incident in one word – DESTINY.
Yes, the accident was bound to happen, but don’t you think such an accident could have been averted had the authorities done their work correctly and on time?
Their negligence has deprived two children of their mother’s love and care. Also, the father is critically injured with multiple fractures. So who is responsible for this situation? The PWD, the Fire Brigade or disaster management? Why does disaster management not take preventive measures? Why does disaster management come into place only after a disaster?
Why can the roadside trees not be pruned or the dangerous trees be cut?
Sources in the electricity department and the PWD have blamed the Forest department as they do not grant permission for cutting down such trees.
State and civic authorities can be held liable to pay compensation for death or injury caused due to failure to maintain facilities or negligence in duties.
Legal experts say public authorities cannot escape liability–a view supported by court rulings.
Human life is the most important resource that any state has at its disposal, and one cannot just sit back and express apathy when lives are repeatedly lost. Consequences for negligence must follow.
Not just the tree falling, in Goa, people are losing their lives due to criminal negligence of authorities in many other areas. Last month we saw a sewerage worker lose their life falling into a sewage pit in Ponda. Similarly, road accidents, mostly fatal, happen almost daily due to potholes.
It is high time Dr Pramod Sawant led the government to pay attention to such issues.
Of course, this issue of tree cutting pertains to local authorities like panchayats and municipalities, but can the government not simplify the process and grant permissions for tree cutting?
Instead of the PWD, Electricity and the Fire Brigade, why can’t the Forest Department do the work themselves?
Another question is if the Fire Services can cut the huge trees after an accident or fall, why can’t their services be requisitioned before the tree falls?
If the Fire Services are short-staffed, then the youth be given responsibility under MNREGA; this would solve the problem to a great extent.
Locals in Ponda now say there are hundreds of age-old trees which are on the verge of falling and need to be cut at the earliest to avoid any untoward incidents.