25 Apr 2019 | 05:30am IST
Letters to the Editor
Ban backpacks at religious places
Grabs of video footage which was broadcast widely on Sri Lanka news channels shows a suspected suicide bomber entering a crowded church on Easter moments before he set off the bomb he carried in his backpack. From the walking stance of the terrorist it was evident that he was carrying a very heavy consignment in the backpack.
It must be said that the backpack is a very convenient baggage to carry bombs and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) by a suicide bomber, without arousing much suspicion as most travellers carry such backpacks. Also the button to set off the bomb can be conveniently carried in the hand. It would be desirable to introduce a ban on carrying of backpacks at religious places and other important places which are crowded.
Alternatively all backpacks of visitors to hotels and religious places need to be thoroughly checked. Thousands of tourists visit important religious places like the Basilica of Bom Jesus and other churches at Old Goa as well as several temples in the State. It would be prudent to install metal detectors at the entrance of these important religious places in order to prevent any terror attacks like the one that occurred at Colombo.
Having carefully followed the happenings since the announcement of polls, the scenario across Goa on April 23, the day we cast our precious vote, sadly, smacked of hypocrisy and evil machinations.
Who will take responsibility for the faulty EVMs? And if it was not for vigilant, responsible citizens, this grave discrepancy would not have come to light.
Even more shocking is that when equal votes were polled in the mock process, 19 went to one party. Has that happened elsewhere and gone unnoticed? Did that happen in 2014, now explaining the landslide victory!
Serious note needs to be taken. This is "an election compromised".
That democracy is in danger has been evident from the many events over the past few years. Some fanatical leaders have openly voiced their wish to make India a "religious state" fearing they will one day be a minority.
Elections will soon be over. If what happened on election day in Goa, and perhaps elsewhere is an indication of what the future will be, we have put the final nail in the coffin!
IPSCDL should prioritise smart city works
The Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL) needs to prioritise the urgent works that are fundamentally required to be done so as to act as a base for the Smart City Mission. Important among these works are: Cleaning and deepening of the drainage system in a scientific manner so that the monsoon rain water is not accumulated on the roads and the footpaths. A very comprehensive way to tackle this issue is to calculate at say heavy downpour the amount of water that collects and then deepen the drains proportionately so that no accumulation of water takes place.
The Indian Meteorological Department can be referred so that say at 4 inches of rainfall per day, the amount of water on the entire surface area of Panjim city can be accurately known based on the total surface area of the city. This will definitely prove to be a very scientific way of tackling the issue.
Also the depth of drains has to be determined on every street so that at the level of draining into the Mandovi, at high tide, the back flushing does not prevent draining from occurring. The slabs covering the drains should also allow draining to take place by providing openings so that accumulation does not take place on the roads. Just before monsoons, all the drains should be cleaned at least to prevent flooding.
The next basic step would be the repair of all the roads so as to make them smooth for motoring. Demarcation of parking places along the road should also be painted in white as also marking of the zebra crossings. Streamlining of traffic is another issue that needs immediate attention by taking appropriate measures.
The cleaning of the St Inez creek should be taken up on a priority basis and so as to reduce the accumulated amount of sewage in the creek, during the rainy season, due to dilution of the amount of sewage will enable to make the task easier. Also relocation of the people who do not have pucca houses should be done so that amount of sewage is greatly reduced. So far only half-hearted attempts have been made to clean the St Inez creek. A garbage treatment plant on the lines of the Saligao garbage treatment plant should be set up in a suitable location to cater to the garbage generated in the city. The installation of the Smart cameras or CCTV at the 59 locations short listed can be deferred as this is not such an urgent issue and the Rs 181 crore allocated for this purpose can the used for more fundamental urgent works.
There are no words left to the most barbaric attack by terrorists on innocent people of Sri Lanka. Humanity shattered to its knees to pray for those departed and their family members. The terrorist does not have any religion. The perpetrators of drastic attack were just terrorist without any religion since no religion tells its faithful to kill the fellow human beings.
As the World Leaders are trying its best to eradicate all forms of terrorist activities either by eliminating them or through peaceful methods, the wide polarisation of communities mushroom more radical elements without knowledge of the authority. The Sri Lanka attack was well planned to inflict maximum number of causalities by the terrorist and now it reveals that in future they will go to attack more crowded places anywhere in the World since figure of victims and injured got a boost for them to carry more on same pattern.
As a Catholic I cannot remain silence on security of Goa Churches. As of now it looks like Goa churches are sitting ducks for the terrorists mainly because almost all churches in Goa do not have any sort of security. As Goa Police are most inefficient and the intelligent service of Goa is very poor it is time on part of Archbishop of Goa Rt Rev Felipe Neri Ferrao to maintain security of its faithful to the highest level.
Some churches in Goa are installed with CCTVs, but just installing cameras all around is not enough, there should be round the clock monitoring of what going around the places of worship. Also all churches need to install Metal Detectors beyond the entrance of the Churches and need to keep a close watch on unauthorised vehicles parked in the vicinity of churches. Presently it is like free for all in most of the churches and within the radius of it as such it is high time the church authority immediately proposes high level security for all its schools, churches and cultural establishments.
The Government of Goa needs to help Goa Church to procure equipments for its security and in case the Government is reluctant to provide equipments the Archbishop of Goa needs to provide all security equipments for the safety of its faithful. It is one time investment which will definitely keeps away the wicked people killing innocent people.
It is duty of the Government of Goa and Archbishop of Goa to provide security to its people. Any unwanted accident will be responsibility of these two entities. They have to sit on the table for the safety of its people.
