Down the drain…
It’s 7.15 am on a Sunday morning, and the sodium vapour street lights along the CHOGM Road are still shining bright. Same is the case with the road between Panjim and Margao even half an hour later. Seventyfive to a hundred minutes after nature’s summer sunshine hit our State, why should we continue wasting energy thus?
Not long ago, our State too joined in organising Earth Hour. Citizens voluntary shut down their lights for an hour, a token gesture but making us more aware about the energy and ecology crisis nonetheless. Even the industrial estates in Goa joined in, never mind that we have involuntary ‘earth hours’ with our many power breakdowns.
Given this context, does it make sense to waste, each day, hours of electricity and energy, over streetlights and more? Besides switching off our lights an hour or more late, the staff employed to do this task also tends to switch on energy-guzzling lights long before sunset. What would it take to halt this needless waste on our roads? Is there need for more effective supervision? Can some auto-timer electronic solution help to avoid the wastage of energy?
It’s not just streetlights that are a problem. Goa keeps wasting so many of its natural resources, that it’s almost criminal. Is it because of a lack of supervision? Because we don’t have our systems in place? Or since we don’t understand how each action contributes to the wider inefficiency of Goa? Or simply because we don’t care?
Such issues creep up with amazing regularity, and we’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg. Most are not adequately studied. Yet, the way in which the Kadamba Transport Corporation is being killed by inefficiency is well documented. KTC accounts for a share of just five percent of Goa’s public transport, while the rest comes from private operators! Its accumulated losses cross Rs 100 crores. With the right policy measures and bette management, it could increase revenue and reduce costs, to earn profit and server everyone better.
Goa’s PSUs (public sector undertaking) are bleeding due to deficiencies in financial management, planning, implementation of projects, running their operations and monitoring! In the case of the EDC, the “defective” appraisal of credit worthiness, inadequacy of securities and “indiscrete extension” granted to a loanee resulted in non-recovery of almost seven crore rupees! The list goes on. Taxes are improperly collected, responsibilities are not set on staff, cess is not levied, and projects over which crores of rupees have been spent turn infructious. Even the Directorate of Accounts had its own computerisation programme delayed and inefficiently carried out!
The big question before us all: can Goa afford all this? Or arewe carry on the road to becoming an even more costly and inefficient State?
Risks of Goa
The report of a young woman—a participant of a prestigious advertising event in Goa—falling 200 metres while parasailing is a matter of concern for the State. We can expect those responsible to see it merely as negative publicity, but it’s much more. For one, the authorities who give such licenses have the duty to ensure safety while operations. There is no alternative to a firm implementation of the law. For instance, if you want to clamp down on drunk driving, then,l ike the Australians, the punishment could be fines, suspension of license, imprisonment and medical assessment before a driver’s license is reinstated. Question here is whether Goa is serious about implementing safety, on its beaches or on its roads.
Goa’s ostritch-like attitude is definitely falling it costly. Instead of cautioning visiting tourists and others, we seem to believe that any spotlight on the risks involved might cause unnecessary alarm. So instead of warning tourists about the very legitimate risks at the beach belt, or under what circumstances our roads can be unsafe, or which areas are more prone to crime on tourists, we just maintain the conspiracy of silence. It’s time visitors to Goa were warned of the risks, even as these are kept under careful supervision. Safety in ‘paradise’ needs to be earned.
