Every fatal accident in the State throws open a Pandora’s Box of irresponsible driving, lack of civil consciousness, police negligence in the investigation and sometimes police protection. While every accident is a grieving story of families who have lost their loved ones, every major fatal accident is also a time for political commitments and assurances, which are seldom fulfilled.
The Banastarim accident on Sunday night involving a high-end SUV that collided with two two-wheelers and three cars left three persons dead on the spot and three others seriously injured who are still recovering at the Goa Medical College and Hospital at Bambolim. The accident has run into a major controversy, even as the police have arrested a man while an eyewitness claims that it was a woman who was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident.
In June this year, Goa witnessed a never before seen scenario when the agitated public burnt down two cranes near the Mopa link road in Dhargalim as a protest to the fatal accident in which a 63-year-old lost his life after a construction truck crushed him under its wheels. The State will not forget the heart-wrenching fatal accident at St Michael’s Chapel near St Jacinto Island in November last year. Mother to two young kids, Reena Gonsalves was crushed to death by the speeding car driven by a minor, who obviously did not possess a driving licence but also allegedly had consumed alcohol along with three other minor occupants of the car. In yet another first, in July last year, four people lost their lives after their vehicle crashed into the Zuari Bridge guard rail and plunged into the river.
At every instance, when a major tragedy strikes or statistics pointing at the grim situation are released, a slew of measures are announced. Just like last October, when Chief Minister Pramod Sawant set out on an ambitious route of drawing up a Road Safety Management Plan and invited the public to an open forum along with his cabinet colleagues and officials from the police, PWD and transport departments. At the end of the discussion, the Chief Minister announced that a comprehensive report would be prepared within a fortnight, and implementation of a robust plan to tackle the issue of road safety would begin from December 1, last year.
Therefore the question arises, what stops the government, despite the absolute majority it enjoys in the Legislative Assembly, to legislate and enforce better mechanisms to chase down the increasing number of fatal accidents in Goa?
After the Banastarim accident, Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho recollected his suggestion that guests who exit bars after drinking should be provided with taxis. He recollected the obnoxious manner in which it was responded to then. But if he and his cabinet colleagues were certain of such a move then what stopped the government from enforcing such an idea? After all, trial and error is the way a government functions in many instances.
Time and again the question of CCTVs, alcometers, AI-powered traffic signals, streamlining of road infrastructure and traffic management are discussed at the government and public forums. On most occasions, such announcements are momentary and forgotten over a period of time with an excuse that the exchequer cannot afford to be burdened without fiscal provisions. If government events and meetings can be funded with post facto approvals, then what stops the government from providing the finances that will only enhance the State’s progress and human development index?
Apart from the infrastructure and apparatus provisions, the government also has to seriously overhaul the manner in which the police respond to such situations. The Banastarim case is an example of how shoddy police investigation can derail the whole justice system. Any crime can be taken to its logical conclusion by only an unbiased and thorough investigation by the police. The Police Department needs to be released from the political clout and emerge as an independent investigating agency.
In a democracy, the buck stops at the Executive. The government needs to walk the talk.
