A stitch in time…
Full marks to Chief Secretary Sanjay Shrivastava for taking prompt actionfollowing the recent horrific accident at Baga beach, in which a student from Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, died in a collision between two boats. As we suggested in these very columns, the government has now directed theTourism Department to demarcate ‘watersports zones’ on beaches, with the assistance of the Goa Police. The Chief Secretary has also cautioned water sports operators not to interfere with this process. He has declared that watersports operators must compulsorily operate their activities within the demarcated zones, failing which action willbe initiated. He has instructed that flags clearly showing swimming and non-swimming zones, safety and non-safety zones should be put up on beaches. The decision came during a meeting convened by Mr Srivastava on Thursday with all the concerned heads of related departments. There were officials from the Tourism Department, the Captain of Ports and the Marine Police. After examining the existing laws on water sports and their implementation, as well as the notifications demarcating zones for watersports on the state’s beaches, it was decided that a joint inspection would be conducted by all these agencies, if
possible as early as next week. The Tourism Department has also compiled a list
of all watersports operators in Goa.
Among the suggestions was the use of mooring procuring plastic floating
barricades in the sea to indicate the limits of the various zones on beaches.
This is likely to be expensive, unnecessary and unproductive. Instead, a flag on
the beach and a small floating buoy in the sea should suffice to demarcate a
zone. Besides, para-sailing operators must be warned to stay at least 500 metres
away from sailing boats in the sea. If the rope towing the para-sailor gets
entangled in the sailing boat’s tall mast, it could result in a massive ‘double
tragedy’; for the person on the parachute as well as all the people in the
sailing boat.
It is indeed unfortunate that the incident that gave rise to this wise and timely
decision cost young 21-year-old Shrey Makhija his life, owing to a head injury
sustained when the speedboat in which he was riding dashed against a stationary
boat. Hopefully, the concerned agencies will implement the decision, conduct the
survey, demarcate water sports zones and restore our beaches to safety.
Mickky’s men
After the Congress’s Gang of Ten sounded the bugle against his induction and
threatened to topple the government if they were ignored, supporters of Benaulim
MLA Fransisco ‘Mickky’ Pacheco have come forward? Mr Pacheco, obviously, has no
support from his fellow members of the Legislative Assembly. But he has mobilised
the panchayati raj big brass in two constituencies to root for his return. This
group of sarpanchas addressed a press conference on Friday to send a loud message
to Congress bigwigs about their support and solidarity for their leader.
In a bid to make him seem as large as the Colossus of Rhodes, they have called
themselves the ‘Nuvem Benaulim Villagers Action Committee (NBVAC)’, to try and
show that Mr Pacheco controls the fortunes of two assembly seats, not just one.
If he is not made a minister, they have threatened to launch an agitation, after
taking a ‘collective decision’.
Zilla Panchayat members Nelly Rodrigues and Domnic Gaonkar, Betalbatim Sarpanch
Minguel Pereira, Majorda Sarpanch Visitation D’Silva, Benaulim Sarpanch Carmelina
Fernandes and the several panchas present should know by now that in Goan
politics, a ‘collective decision’ is a euphemism for the fact that they cannot
agree on what course of action to take if they are ignored.
