PANJIM: The deaths and injuries reported from the site of Devi Lairai Zatra on Saturday was indeed heart breaking. A mother lost her only son, while others lost dear family members. Many are critical. Herald Media asked people, “Should govt have better strategies and advanced crowd management at zatras to avoid stampede and deaths?”
When we know that such huge crowds were coming there, human safety was never considered.
Definitely, crowd management, safety, security is the duty of the government and today we have lost precious lives and so many injuries which could have been prevented if safety measures were adopted. When we know that such huge crowds were coming there, human safety was never considered. That is the reason why we have lost these precious lives which we can’t get back. And government agencies have to take the responsibility and action must be taken against officials so that such acts are not repeated again.
Avertino Miranda Social and Environmental Activist
First of all I want to say when we are organizing zatras of such a scale, for example we had the St Francis Xavier exposition, so nicely they organized everything. So when you know that there is a slope there, it was the duty of the committee and the police to see that such things do not happen. They should have done lots of police bandobast over there to control the crowd. So I fully blame the police as well as the committee members.
Ana Gracias Social Worker
With regard to crowd management, it is shameful for us to even discuss this today. Goa is seen as one of the number 1 states and is this how we value lives? There is no advance planning. Leave aside the blame game. Responsibility yes, for all the religious organization which are organizing these zatras and the other government departments such as the fire services, the home department, the police and the government, they have to be held responsible and some people have to be brought to book. And they have to be pinned down. And unless and until this responsibility is not put on their head and they are punished, this type of incidents will continue to happen.
Anthony D'Silva Social Activist