While Goans still conjecture as to who will rule the State, with no Party expected to get an absolute majority, unless the tricks played by the Government and the Election Commission work, another extremely serious problem stares at us with the Supreme Court’s decision to close all outlets selling liquor within half a kilometer from the National and State Highways.
The judgment of the SC speaks of alarming statistics of road accidents having “claimed human lives and caused debility and injury”. “Both on a personal scale (in terms of injuries and loss of life) as well as in social context, restitution in the form of mandatory awards of compensation can never undo the trauma of loss and the pain of suffering. The law can only imperfectly alleviate the consequences of road accidents. In terms of personal suffering caused to individuals and families as well as in terms of deprivation caused to society of its productive social capital, road accidents impose unacceptable costs”- add the learned Judges. How true! One death on the roads, every four minutes in the country – the highest in the world and one death per day on an average in a small State like ours, considered one of the most literate – is something to hang our heads in shame as to the way we respect human life.
Statistics of deaths in road accidents are indeed disturbing: 1.42 & 1.38 lakh people dead in 2011 & 2012 with 10553 & 7835 deaths respectively caused by drunken driving and 6755 in 2015 due to same cause. While the percentage of deaths due to drunken driving is low, at between 4 and 6%, yet SC felt it imperative to impose some drastic measures to avoid the pain and suffering that thousands of families undergo due to road accidents.
Bad luck seems to have hit Goa ever since BJP came to power. Besides U- turns and false promises, the closure of mines, the demonetisation and curbs on withdrawals which seriously affected spending, particularly by tourists, and now the decision on liquor outlets are a heavy blow to our economy, affecting not only Government revenue but the lives and livelihood of lakhs of people. What is strange is that while the local Government was keen on re-starting mining more with an eye on helping the mining lobby than on earning revenue officially, it has not shown similar concern over the impending closure of bars, liquor shops, etc. surely thus ensuring the fulfillment of another dream of the BJP – imposition of prohibition through the back door. Despite the fact that many thousands will lose their jobs and income and tourism too will be a casualty, past and present Governments have taken no steps to minimise the damage, even though they had seen this coming since 2004 and regular advisories were received thereafter in this regard.
But, when Ministers, MLAs and bureaucrats are busy making a quick buck, governance goes for a toss. Shouldn’t the Government have intervened in SC placing various facts and mainly of loss of jobs, added to the already existing problem caused by mining closure? Can our petition now stand, when SC rejected a similar one from Pondichery? When the SC delivered its judgment on December 15, why was it not made public until elections were over and why was no action taken before the code of conduct came into force? The people of Goa and particularly the affected need an answer from the Government.
The Supreme Court order will throw sizeable part of our population on the roads and force thousands of families into penury. But the Order cannot be defied, lest one incurs contempt, which we fear more than we fear death. The SC totally overlooked other factors like the enforcement of laws by Traffic Police and Transport Departments and criminal negligence of various Government Offices and Agencies, particularly the PWD, which are mainly responsible for major accidents and deaths on the roads. It acted on reports from the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the National Road Safety Council, which wash off their hands solely by sending regular advisories to States & UTs for implementation. Except for Road Safety Week pompously organised every year, perhaps more with an eye on funds allocated for the purpose, no seriousness is seen in tackling the problem of road accidents. Even the hikes in fines and penalties for traffic offences came lately, through amendments to Motor Vehicles Act, when these ought to have been in place much earlier. These Agencies too, go by reports submitted by the Police, which is perhaps one of the most inefficient and unreliable Government Departments.
When hundreds get acquitted thanks to shoddy investigations and dozens languish in jails due to framed charges, like it happened recently with two Kashmiri boys detained on fabricated charges and released after 11 years, what faith can we have in the Police? Accidents caused by inconspicuous speed breakers, potholes, gravel spread on the roads, etc are considered as self-accidents by the Police. Even recently the Press reported the death of a lady after hitting a speed breaker. I can only request the Hon. High Court to take suo motu notice of the presence of unauthorised speed breakers and the absence of luminous paint on others, which are the cause of many an accident.
One can only hope and pray that Goa may be spared another catastrophe by implementation of SC fiat and more particularly that it may be saved from the pain and agony of having another irresponsible Government in power which far from looking after the interests of the people , only adds to their cup of sorrow.
(The author is a retired banker)
