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THE GOAN NETWORK
MAPUSA: Residents of Calvim-Aldona on Monday prayed for the souls of the six victims, which included six schoolgirls, to mark the seventh anniversary of the tragic bus tragedy
The Carona Chaplain Fr Francis Athaide celebrated a special Mass at the St Sebastian Church at Calvim on Monday at 5 pm. A large congregation, which included family members and relatives of the deceased were present at the Eucjaristic celebration to pray for the souls of Elvina Dias (13) and her sister Diana (4), Josephina Dias (58), Negal Gracias (10), all from Calvim, Dayanand J Hoble (55) of Mayem and Priyal Salgaonkar (10) of Nachinola.
Later, the people took part in a candlelit procession which went to the Cross erected on the Calvim side of the bridge in memory of the six victims.
Prayers, which included a Rosary, were also recited at the Cross.
Aldona MLA Glenn Ticlo also visited the Cross and took part in the prayer service.
“Though it has been seven years for the bus tragedy, painful memories of the incident are still fresh in the minds of people in Calvim. People keep asking us about the status of the case against the bus operator and we have to tell them that the matter is still in court and that, we will fight till justice is given to the six victims and their families,” said Freddy Pontes, who was the Calvim panch at the time of the incident.
It may be recalled that a passenger bus had driven into the river at Carona on February 18, 2012, killing the six victims in the mishap. The incident had stunned the entire State and there was an outpouring of grief.
The bus tragedy had led to political and social implications. Then Aldona MLA Dayanand Narvekar lost the assembly elections and it was widely believed that one of the main reasons for his defeat had been his inability to build the Carona-Calvim bridge, a long-pending demand at the time.
The BJP government which came into power constructed the Calvim-Carona bridge as one of its top priorities and later made available special Bal Rath school buses to schoolchildren across the State.
