Curtorim: When an old man who resides next door to Curtorim church, expressed sadness that Curtorim was losing its cherished identity, little did he know that his concluding remark -“ Let’s bring back the peace!”-, would turn out to be the war cry that rallied his fellow Curtorkars as they battle the ‘drug culture’ in their village.
At A marathon meeting held at the Curtorim church hall, local residents from all strata of society converged to figure out ways to find a solution, a cure and ways to prevent the drug menace from spreading its tentacles across the village and corrupting the village youth.
The meeting was called in the wake of the recent tragedy at a birthday party held at Maina, Curtorim where two youth died of suspected drug overdose on April 18. The police informed the crowd that the court had already declared the two accused as proclaimed offenders.
The incident not only exposed the soft underbelly of the prevailing drug menace in the idyllic village, it also triggered widespread anxiety among the villagers who have called on the police to ensure speedy justice.
At the end of the meeting convened by Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, a long list of resolutions were passed including community monitoring and night patrolling consistently henceforth.
Earlier, Police Sub Inspector (PSI) of the Anti-Narcotics Cell, Therron D’costa , Maina- Curtorim Police Inspctor (PI) Harish Madkaikar, the mother of the deceased youth Rodson Monteiro, Curtorim Parish Priest Fr Mariano Goes Proenca, other priests from the locality interacted with the crowd. A large group of youth voiced their views, apprehensions and support for the cause at the end of the meeting. What emerged was a huge concern of the youth that those involved with drugs were untouched due to political influence or and that there was no protection for polcice informants
Maina Curtorim PI gave the locals his phone number and guaranteed that there would be utmost secrecy if anyone came forward with any information. The PI also assured that they would start tracking places where drugs are consumed by youth as pointed out by locals at the meeting and they would bring in suspicious people for questioning.
The ANC PSI explained the strict police rules and laws, the various sentences for anyone arrested for drug related offence and how they were trying to cut off the drug supply routes. He further explained how they were carrying out awareness programmes in schools and colleges and based on suggestions from the crowd, it was decided to hold similar awareness programmes in all seven schools in Curtorim.
The mother of the deceased tried to hold back tears as she reminisced about her lost son and spoke about how the boy had not even been invited to the party. She spoke about her how disciplined, loving and caring her son was and how he had his full future ahead of him and blamed the two drug dealers for the chain of events which culminated in her discovering that her son had passed away.
The Parish priests encouraged parents to strictly monitor their children’s activities and bad company and to warn their wards about such dangers. A youth Jonathan Fernandes said it was important for parents to inculcate the right values and to form a strong bond with their children as in its absence, the children were lonely and thus reach out to such groups for company where they sometimes either fall prey for such habits or are taken advantage of.
While the locals urged the Parish priest to form a strong parish youth, the parish priest said the need of the hour was to have organized entertainment and skill based activities including sports where the youth could spend their leisure time constructively.
The priests criticized the young boys who have fallen astray in pursuit of easy money and fast life.
Meanwhile, senior citizens gave examples of how they had spotted such large groups with bullet bikes who would respond with arrogance if they tried to approach them and recalled days gone by when the youth of Curtorim would listen to their elders.
The crowd appreciated the efforts of the MLA, Alexio Reginaldo Lourenco for organizing the event and the detailed presentation of the kind of drugs available in Goa
Lourenco called upon the crowd to form a committee on their own to monitor the situation and appealed to the church work hand in hand in achieving their goal. Lourenco said he had informed the police about the drug related activities and called upon the police to be more proactive.
