PANJIM, DEC 21
The water sports related death of a 21-year-old medical student in Baga may not have gone in vain altogether, as the Director of Tourism Swapnil Naik has now assured he would crack the whip against erring operators, henceforth.
The death had once again highlighted the money-raking activity needed to be strictly monitored, even as the authorities concerned have been caught napping when it came to keeping in check these thrilling, but deadly boat rides.
When Herald sought to know from the Director of Tourism Naik what action he would initiate after the mishap, he said their special security force will start cracking down on water sports operators encroaching in zones other than the ones meant for them.
However, he maintained it wasn’t easy to nab these erring operators as they always stood united. One can see this from the fact that after Saturday’s accident most operators in the area shut down their operations for two days, he mentioned.
He said, “They did not operate for two days making it difficult for police to identify the boat which caused the accident.”
Naik said the problem is of overcrowding of water sports operators along the seven-kilometre Sinquerim-Baga stretch and 13-14 kilometres Utorda-Varca coast which is the main cause of accidents.
There are about 1,187 water sports operators in the State and majority of them are concentrated along the Sinquerim-Baga stretch in the North.
When contacted, Captain of Ports James Braganza said his department had stopped issuing fresh licenses for water sports two years ago. Secondly my department didn’t have the manpower to check the boats. “In context to the Baga accident,” Braganza reiterated, “the responsibility of my department was to the point of checking the condition of the vessels.”
However, John Lobo, Secretary of Shack Owners Welfare Society, maintains Naik’s assurance of cracking the whip a jabber. “The very next day after the accident the boat operators continued their operation in full swing. Before also there were serious accidents but nothing has happened. This talk of action is all rubbish,” he chided.
Witnesses to the Baga accident said the boat rider was reckless and the same had resulted in the fatal accident causing the death of the medical student. Whether Tourism Department was really serious in cracking a whip will show in the action they take into this unfortunate mishap.
