The Courts have decided to direct the police to register an FIR for negligence and endangering lives in connection with the incident when the Mayor of Panaji, Surendra Furtado, invited journalists onto a de-weeding machine that was functioning on the St Inez Creek. It has also asked for a probe to be conducted into the accident.
The incident, which occurred in June, resulted in the machine turning turtle, possibly due to the fact that it was unbalanced as a result of more than the specified two people being on board. There were more than six people on board the de-weeding machine and many of them fell into the polluted waters of the St Inez Creek. Furtado, as Mayor, was undoubtedly hoping for a good photo-op by inviting the journalists to hop onboard. He should have ideally checked to see if the machine could indeed hold the increased weight. He also did this despite the warnings from Taleigao MLA Jennifer Monserrate.
What is sad is the fact that this is an example of how politicians and administrators ignore safety warnings and often indulge their egos, all for a good photo-op. The FIR will serve to show that one cannot just ignore safety warnings and common sense for publicity purposes.
