The 3-day legislative assembly session ended on a dismal note with several key issues before the State going unaddressed. If the first day saw a brief governor’s speech which the Congress revolted against by walking out of the House, the second day saw a few bills coming up followed by a 20-minute budget presentation. And the third day in the House saw nothing significant being achieved with legislators surprisingly preferring to debate on the traffic sentinel scheme over the all-important CRZ issue.
To cap it all, legislators took time on the congratulatory
motion moved on Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar for successfully completing the 3rd Mandovi bridge. That’s not all. Even Jesus was invoked and a reference made of building bridges and not walls.
Overall, a lifeless session came to an end where six bills were passed without a single one being discussed. It was a session which saw a helpless Opposition remaining mute spectators and going through the motions after crying hoarse over a truncated session. It comes as a surprise that when a choice was to be made between discussing either the traffic sentinel scheme, which has recently run into rough weather, and the crucial new CRZ notification that could sound a death knell for Goa’s coast, legislators preferred the former. It’s time the Congress legislators bury their heads in the sand like ostriches now, since it is they who buried themselves in the sand at Miramar beach to protest the CRZ notification.
The much-talked about traffic sentinel scheme may have gotten off to a faulty start with government implementing it without even notifying, legislators now appear to be hell-bent on stopping it in its tracks for varied reasons. It’s amusing when Tivim MLA Nilkant Halarnkar talks in the assembly about how a casual ‘lift’ offered by bikers can end up even in divorces of married couples. Or for that matter, Calangute MLA Michael Lobo talking of invasion of privacy, despite the fact that blatant violations are happening right in the open. The crux of the matter however is that violators are using political influences to get themselves off the hook. And legislators are desperately trying to offer insane arguments to oblige and bail out offenders.
To top it all, PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar has agreed to review the scheme, but not before speaking his mind on traffic violations and accidents. Can Sudin preach road safety when the condition of our roads is pathetic to say the least? Lest we forget, people have planted samplings and some have even protested to bring to the notice of the PWD minister the sorry condition of our roads. The wretched Agassaim-Verna stretch is a glaring example. Our hot-mixed roads don’t last for even one season, leave alone years.
We only hope that our legislators take up issues with all the possible ‘josh’ and ‘hosh’ in the true interest of Goans.
