Rohan Borker, a 15-year old boy suffered a serious leg injury during the Ganpati immersion on September 9, after his feet got cut due to broken glass pieces, lying along the Miramar seashore, which was plunged into darkness, due to non-functioning high-mast light installed at the beach side. Rohan has got four stitches on the feet and was unable to walk for nearly three days.
“I had gone for Ganesh visharjan (immersion) with my father, mother, uncle, elder brother and two of my friends. It was post 9.30pm. As we were returning back, I stepped on a broken alcohol bottle…it was very dark and I could not see…we had an emergency light in hand…the bottle got stuck too deep…from there I was rushed to Campal clinic,” Rohan, resident of Tonca, narrated how his fun filled day turned into a mini tragedy.
This is not just in case of Miramar, but another popular beach Siridao is also facing a similar problem. The road connecting the village from the highways, where the high mast lamp is installed, is into darkness after dust. The lamp is not functioning for last six months and no one is bothered about the situation.
“More than six months passed but nothing has happened. We raised the issue before the local MLA and Panchayat, but nothing happened. Even the Agassaim police, on the security front had written to the local panchayat and Electricity Department in this regard,” a local, who owns a restaurant there, informed, without wanting to be identified.
Herald reached out to the Siridao Sarpanch, Antony Afonso, but he refused to comment on the non-functioning high mast in his village, which makes the beach front area unsafe at night.
For this festival, it was not an easy way for the devotees who went along Miramar and Siridao to immerse Ganesh idols. The devotees were left disappointed forcing them to carry Emergency Lights, as the High-Mast lamps are not in working condition for last three to six months. The beaches are popular tourist spots, one located in Panjim and another on its outskirts. However, the lamps which are not functioning for last three to six months have made the place dangerous, as the 15-year-old Rohan discovered, without the bright lamps after sunset each day. This has also resulted into unwanted miscreants to loiter around the areas.
Panjim Mayor Surendra Furtado said that the Miramar beach is currently manned by the Tourism Department and the high-mast lamp was installed during the then Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane’s tenure. “We wrote to Minister for Tourism and Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) requesting to repair the lamp and to conduct further renovation of the beach ahead of festival. However, there was no response,” he said.
“Miramar beach is a place where not just tourists but locals also visit for leisure. Senior citizens and kids come on beach for relaxation. However, due to the darkness, it has become very difficult for these people. Also unwanted, anti-social elements loiter here at night time,” Govind Pawas, a senior citizen said.
The Electricity Department, when contacted, said that it is in process to replace all the street lights with LED and during that process, the repair of poles, light mast lamps would be undertaken.
