Joao Barros Pereira
Is old gold? Not always. When it flows smoothly from a wine bottle the answer of course is a delicious yes. But what about old people?
Look at the road situation in the villages in Goa and you will agree old is not gold. Old people in the villages are fearful of their lives when they walk down the streets. Whenever I walk down the narrow two-way village road opposite my house in Cansaulim although I am not old (at least that is what I think) I have to remind myself I’m living in a village and not a town with all the zooming of vehicles.
Has the unruly development of Goa reached a high point where vehicles are more valuable than life? The vehicles, two and four wheelers which include buses pose a serious danger to old people on narrow roads. As the road is a two-way street – even though I am not so old – I walk with my heart in my mouth and not where it should be! It is a shame as a great tragedy is waiting to happen – someone sooner or later is going to lose his mother, father, grandmother, grandfather or even a child.
Old people are often hearing impaired and have poor eyesight, loose balance easily, and so on. We need to show them a greater courtesy and appreciation, gratitude for their contribution to the wealth and culture of our village; they are not old vehicles which can be traded in for new models.
We urgently need to have one-way streets in our villages all over Goa to reduce the tension of the old people, protect the very young and others who walk on the narrow and unsafe streets. No need to broaden the streets, tear down peoples’ compound walls and change the character of our villages with its romantic winding streets. Let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water.
Old people have a right to walk safely down their village roads in the autumn of their lives. We need to remind ourselves: roads are not only for vehicles. Cars have killed enough of people. And Goa, as we know only too well, has a galloping population of vehicles of all kinds which is a danger to the continued existence of the old and young. We have to do something to ensure the safety of everyone who has to walk or cycle on our murderous roads. All it takes is a little bit of heart.
The next death on our village roads could be a member of our family or even our own. Why wait for it to happen?
