During my college days way back in 1995, the Quepem-Sanvordem road was commonly used by us, as couple of our friends were from Sanvordem and the Sanquem guest house near the dam was our favorite joint. There was mining going on those days in that area, there were mining-related trucks operating in that area, but on a very small scale. People not related to mining were not happy even those days though mining was not on a very larger scale. I cannot remember a single queue of hundreds of trucks occupying half of the width of the road in that area those days.
During the tenure of Digamber Kamat as the Chief Minister of Goa, greed took over the conscience of rich mining-related people. Nature has been destroyed in the name of mining. Huge number of mining-related trucks driving in a rash and negligent manner were witnessed in Quepem, Sanvordem, Sanquem, etc. mining-related areas. Quite a number of innocent people lost their precious lives coming under the wheels of dangerously operating trucks but sadly mining stood high and tall compared to innocent human lives.
In a place like US, even a drop of oil in water from a ship can lead to the arrest of the entire ship but here at home anti-pollution rules are just on the paper. As humans, most of us have lost our ethics. When it comes to money most of us don’t care of our own fellow humans. The way innocent people are dying on our roads confirms that there exist no traffic systems in our state. In some cases the so-called accidents are not just accidents but cold- blooded murders.
The death of a mother and the daughter-in-law from Cuncolim at Tilamol is very sad and tragic. An innocent miracle child who was saved in the same accident lost his mother. Accidents never happen when traffic and driving rules are thoroughly followed. Somebody’s mistake and negligence cause accidents. Who was responsible for the above accident? If it was the truck then I would say it’s a cold-blooded murder and if it is other way round then I have got no words to say.
I use the Tilamol-Rivona road very commonly and I have witnessed, most of the mining-related trucks are operating in a very dangerous manner. Most of the drivers don’t have respect for human life. What for they are racing on these interior roads? If people are starving to death, than no doubt, mining should continue but not at the cost of innocent lives. How many mining- related trucks operate on a respective road per day? Reduce the operation of trucks to reasonable number per day.
The people in power should think as humans and find out a solution regarding this operation of mining trucks but when greed takes over our conscience we fail to understand the meaning of our own life. The solution will be in place only when we start to think about the problem as humans. Till then, God save our souls.
