Traffic police and ISI helmets
The Superintendent of Police (Traffic) has now reportedly directed all traffic cells to strictly enforce the ban on non-ISI helmets in the State and has even instructed the cops from the traffic cell to henceforth treat the commuters using non-ISI helmets as riding without helmets in Goa.
Looks like the cops from the traffic cell are finding it very difficult to collect money in the State as most two-wheeler riders are slowly seen compulsorily wearing helmets today whilst moving around everywhere.
If the Superintendent of Police (Traffic) and cops from the traffic cell are really concerned on saving the precious lives of all the two-wheeler riders (as being claimed through the local media) by suddenly promoting ISI-marked helmets then why are they still allowing the sale of duplicate helmets on all the major bridges, national highways? Why are they refusing to take any immediate action against all such type of sales in Goa?
I think that the Superintendent of Police (Traffic) should first penalise these same cops from the traffic cell for deliberately allowing the sale of duplicate non-ISI helmets on all the major bridges, national highways, roads and then decide to target the two-wheeler riders.
Jerry Fernandes, Saligao
Checking on non-ISI helmets
It is learnt that two-wheeler riders using a non-ISI mark helmet will have to pay a fine as the use of a non-ISI mark helmet will be treated as riding without a helmet. The traffic police authority has reportedly instructed traffic personnel to enforce the ban on non-ISI mark helmets since the use of substandard helmets do not offer adequate head protection in the event of a motor vehicle accident.
ISI mark helmets are made using material that can withstand tough impact. ISI is a certification mark given to a range of products sold in India by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), a government organisation that sets the minimum acceptable standard for all industrial goods sold in India. As per the notification from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), it has been mandated that all helmets must bear the ISI mark from June 1, 2021.
Insisting on two-wheeler riders to wear a helmet with an ISI mark is a step in the right direction. However, implementation of the rule could raise some questions. It is easier for the traffic cops to stop a rider not wearing a helmet and penalise him/her. But how does the traffic cop check if the helmet the rider is wearing has an ISI mark when the vehicle is on the move? Since the ISI is marked in small letters on the helmet it will be almost impossible to notice it when the vehicle is on the move. Whether the cops will stop even those wearing the helmet to check if it has an ISI mark remains to be seen.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Will govt solve the Sonsoddo issue?
Sonsoddo garbage dump has become the major issue of Margao in South Goa. Sonsoddo dump goes up in flames again and again. Blaming the Power department or someone else is not a permanent solution. The fire comes many a time of its own from the garbage itself because of biogas, the gasses produced of fermentation of organic waste, etc. Inside this mountain of rubbish disposed garbage there are so many waste materials, they are going to be bad for the health, safety and environment.
The people, who are staying in and around, are getting sick as it is difficult to breathe the air which is polluted and it smells very bad. Time has come to clear the mountains of garbage menace which is present there for so many years. Government comes and goes but till today the issue is not yet solved, but the mountains of Sonsoddo garbage keep on increasing even after Margao Municipal office trying its level best to solve this issue. Request our newly Minister for garbage, MMC Margao, government of Goa, CM, Curtorim MLA and Margao town fathers to sit, discuss and solve this pending issues which is effecting the health of thousands of people. Work together for the love of Goa and Goans.
Ronnie D’Souza, Chandor
Panchayats should be ‘dry cleaned’
Is the Panchayati Raj system really strengthening our democracy or helping the corruption expand at the grassroots level to grow for their own benefit and interest? Panchayati Raj is the basic unit of administration in a system of good, honest and ethical governance. The Constitutional (73rd Amendment) Act 1992 came into force in India on April 24, 1993 to provide constitutional status to the Panchayati Raj institutions, and for a small villages to follow in most ethical manner like a cake walk, only if the principles, work ethics and policies are followed.
Panchayat Raj system should be helping the relevant innocent villagers who depend on the elected VP Sarpanch, Secretary and the Panch members for their day to day responsibilities and basic challenges. The elected VP Administrators or so called good leaders at the village level should be neutral to all villagers so be it friends, relatives, investors or donors.
Instead of innovating in ways to improve the system they are criticising the past management only to prove that they are better, but in most situations, it is the other way round. In most villages faith on Panchayat House is lost as villagers blindly calling the administrator corrupt and useless. If the Panchayat raj is implemented to serve the common or community, why don’t they work in a smooth manner, given the fact that it is very successful in the past for centuries? We hope by June 4, 2022, the Panchayat Raj administration is dry cleaned before the fresh elections are held.
Gaston Dias, Sarzora
Long wait for survey plans
I agree with the views of Rodney de Souza mentioned in his letter ‘A long wait for Survey plans’ (Herald, 23 April)regarding the long delay in the issue of the survey plans. Ministers in the present Government make big
promises to complain about the malpractices of their staff. I want to request the CM of Goa who is on a Temple run to sort out this mess and see that the common man is not put to inconvenience after paying taxes which in turn pay the salaries and perks of these fattened ministers and their staff.
Matias Lobo, Tivim
Govt must always act for public good
We need to support any good decision taken by the government which is for public good. But those in power need to be rapped hard for any and every move orchestrated with vested interests in mind and ulterior motives rather than in the best interests of the people.
As part of the world’s largest democracy, the government is run by the people and must be of the people by the people and for the people. This means that the government has a duty to protect and provide for its citizens to ensure that their needs are met. Government must be transparent, accountable for every decision and every move it makes as anything, and everything done has to be always for the welfare and best interests of the public. It would be prudent that every major decision being contemplated by the government should first be aired and discussed in the public domain and with their representatives.
Projects of any kind must be for sustainable development, for the sole benefit of the public and not for personal development. There must be zero tolerance to a waste of resources and abuses of any kind.
It is also very imperative that the legality of every decision being taken be first examined by the government.
Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
