“It is alarming on one hand to see the number of children involved in accidents. But one also needs to look into what happens to children when they lose their parents in road accidents,” said GOACAN coordinator Roland Martins.
Last year, a 15-year-old SSC student from Thana Cortalim was crushed to death while dropping her friend home on a scooter. She was knocked down by a tanker and killed on the spot.
“We have noticed that there are many children who have lost their lives in these accidents. This should be a matter of concern for all stakeholders like departments of Education, Women & Child Development, and Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights besides the Parent Teachers Associations. In many of the road accidents in Goa, children have either lost one or both parents and this situation will also have an impact on them and their immediate families,” said Martins.
As one of the organisation’s initiatives, Martins has decided to take up the matter with various stakeholders with the aim of drawing up an appropriate strategy and an action plan. At the level of the village panchayats and municipalities, formation of the road safety and traffic management committees are a must, he said.
