The drowning of a 17-year-old boy from St Inez Panaji in a water-filled laterite stone quarry at Bhatwadi Nanora-Bicholim on Sunday afternoon brings back the ghastly memories of the past and triggers thoughts of an insensitive system where authorities are repeatedly failing to learn lessons from tragedies. The Panaji boy had gone on a swimming outing with six of his friends, two of whom were struggling but were rescued by locals in the nick of time.
Goa has been regularly witnessing drowning deaths at abandoned stone quarries. The case of four local school boarders of a school downing at an open stone pit at Tuem in September 2019 sent shock waves across the State. Last July a 16-year-old drowned at a quarry in Cansaulim, a month later in August, the body of a 21-year-old boy was fished out from a quarry at Revora-Thivim and three months later, another boy drowned at a Chimbel site. These are a few of the many others reported.
These tragedies have a trail that links even to the hearings at the National Green Tribunal. The State has in the past come for censure from the NGT when it was told that the government would fill the pits with municipal solid waste. The NGT, not only rejected the proposal but also slammed authorities for showing insensitivity towards a serious issue where lives were being lost.
A year after the horrific Tuem deaths, the State government had pledged before the NGT that it would ensure quarries were filled with fly ash and remediated inert waste to prevent a recurrence. The NGT had asked the Goa government to take remedial action including framing of appropriate guidelines and Manuel of Standard Operating Procedure for quarries.
Despite the gravity of the situation, authorities have done very precious little on the ground. The Department of Mines and Geology formed a committee last year to inspect all such pits and take preventive measures. Both the district collectors were also to conduct surveys of all stone quarries in the state. A proposal was also floated to fence these areas. But despite a series of drowning deaths being reported, there has not been a visible change.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant while condoling deaths has been urging authorities to cordon off such potentially dangerous areas. He said there has to be an awareness so that children understand the dangers of such misadventures. Yes, all that is fine. We as a society need to also act responsibly, point taken. But the question is why was awareness and enforcement lacking, and why should this subject come up only when a life is lost?
The government has belatedly moved with a proposal to disburse Rs 75 lakh each to each district to facilitate the fencing of these dangerous spots. Goa has around 100-odd stone quarries, some being unregistered. The question is whether this grant will be enough to secure these quarries, and if yes, to what extent. Also, the district collectors on Sunday issued prohibitory orders against swimming in quarries, near waterfalls, rivers and other water bodies. The question here is about enforcement, does the government have the wherewithal? Manning these danger spots poses a dilemma because of the additional manpower that would be required to keep a vigil round-the-clock.
While the move on fencing and issuing prohibition orders must be appreciated, it cannot be seen as a fool-proof mechanism to keep people away from quarries and other sites, especially during monsoons. Given the situation, the government will have to take proactive measures besides fencing, guarding and restricting or banning access during the monsoon. Raising awareness and engaging local bodies could make a difference.
The big downside is that seriousness is lacking. It took a tragic death for the wheels of the establishment to move, a critical issue that was almost forgotten otherwise.
