SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 2024
The tragedies are definitely part and parcel of our life on this earth. From time immemorial humans have witnessed tragedies in different forms in their lives. Be it natural calamity, at work, at home or on road, up in the sky and at sea, every tragedy has consumed human life. And the least that we can do is learn a lesson or two.
Of late, Goans have just witnessed how the ‘tragedy king’ in Mario Menezes was consumed by an ill-fated heart attack. His loss has left a void in the tiatr world. And just after one month’s time, yet another tragedy took place when famous and very popular comedian Bab Selvy of the Konkani stage breathed his last at his tender age. The loss of these two stage artists has set a gloom all over Goa. And to add insult to our sorrows, the foursome gave us yet another tragedy on the Zuari bridge only to ponder and wonder where it takes us from here. In the bargain the families’ lives have been shattered with these ill timed deaths. May the Almighty grant their souls eternal peace. The tragedy that occurred on river Zuari on July 28, which consumed four innocent lives has in fact opened up the pandora’s box.
What is absurd is that most of the time many of us always tend to jump the gun and speak volumes either against the victims or blame the government. We hardly go to the rationality behind the tragedy. All said and done, after all the dead no longer speak to give their version of their tragedy. Our boneless tongue keeps wagging 360 degrees instead of just praying ‘may their soul rest in peace.’
One just cannot reason as to why it happened or how it happened. But let’s face the realities. Most of the tragedies on the road may be attributed to the government’s ill conceived of our road network in Goa. Goa being an International tourist destination the government ought to have all its means and mechanism in place to face any eventuality in the state.
All the concerned emergency services should be at their disposal to attend such tragedies and retrieve the bodies from the waters at the earliest, irrespective of time factor. Had this tragedy happened to any of the foreigners, would the government display the same attitude which it showed on July 28? If so, there would have been world headlines exposing the laxity of the Goa government. The same government would have run helter-skelter to find the answers. The International community knows Goa as a famous tourist destination. But they also know that Goa is a scary place to be in. Time is just a factor that cannot be judged for any tragedy to take place. But surely some sort of round-the-clock surveillance, be it on road or by air is a way forward. The government after all cannot absolve itself from its responsibility.
Coming back to the Zuari accident, the knee-jerk reactions later in the day by the politicians only displayed their inefficiency on part of the present government. The CM’s utterance later rubbed salt to the wounds. It was uncalled for to State that we should have a library in the house instead of showing off their in-house bar. Such an arrogant attitude from CM was uncalled for. Has he financed the in-house bar?
We know that he is hiding behind the real issues facing Goa today, and that has been the style of his governance. Absence of any government official or any minister at the accident site showed how insensitive his governance is. A few questions that arise from this episode of drowning are:-
1. Why should it have taken rescue teams more than 8 hours to reach the accident spot?
2. Why did the navy’s rescue team take such 8 long hours to reach the venue? Why did they not respond to the call by night itself? Were they incapable of working at that time of the night?
3. Why should it take almost 12 hours to retrieve the bodies? It was any child’s knowledge to first search for the vehicle at the location it fell off from the bridge.
5. Goa needs potholes free roads to prevent fatal accidents and strict implementation of safety norms. Stop playing with Goans’ lives henceforth.
There may still be so many unanswered questions to this related accident. But we need to take a lesson or two from it now onward.
Let there be rescue teams or agencies’ preparedness and collaborate with each other in such grave circumstances. Ensure round-the-clock surveillance of the major highways. Provide people with contact numbers of all the agencies to be used during any emergency including the navy. Be it day or night, let there be rescue preparedness in place. And most of all we all need to know is that the dead tell no tales whatsoever.
