PANAJI
The drowning of a Class XI student during a school trek at Tonir-Kajredhat waterfall in Sattari has triggered an official inquiry over whether the Forest Department failed to implement monsoon safety measures ordered barely nine days earlier.
North Goa District Magistrate, Ankit Yadav, has sought a detailed explanation for the apparent absence of barricading as well as forest personnel and missing warning signboard/s at the accident site.
In a strongly-worded communiqué to the Deputy Conservator of Forests, the DM referred to his July 29 order directing precautionary and safety measures at waterfalls, rivers and other vulnerable tourist locations during the monsoon season. This letter was issued after receiving a report from the Deputy Collector and Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Sattari, on the drowning of Rahul Bind, a student of Deepvihar Higher Secondary School, Vasco.
Yadav recorded that the Deputy Collector's inquiry found that although warning signboards were reportedly erected by the village panchayat in the vicinity of the waterfall, there was no barricading. Adding to the alleged negligence, there was also no deployment of Forest Department staff/security personnel at the site, and no warning signboard at the exact location where the drowning incident occurred. The report also noted that certain warning signboards had allegedly been removed by unknown persons.
Treating the findings as a matter of public importance, the DM sought a point-wise factual report from the Forest Department within 24 hours.
“The reasons for the absence of Forest Department personnel at the site prior to the occurrence of the incident, despite the location falling under the jurisdiction of the Forest Department, ...the action taken by the Department in compliance with this office Order... and the reasons for the apparent failure to implement the directions contained therein,” were the explanations sought.
The Forest Department has also been directed to furnish details of the safety measures undertaken, including installation and maintenance of warning signboards, barricading, deployment of personnel, regulation of public entry and visitor monitoring during the monsoon season.
The DM further sought to know if the Department was aware that warning boards had allegedly been removed, steps taken to restore them, whether regular inspections and patrolling were being carried out, responsibility fixed for the lapses noticed, and corrective and preventive measures proposed to prevent such incidents in future. Relevant records, inspection reports, deployment details and photographs have also been sought.
“The matter involves loss of a human life and is of utmost public importance,” it said, emphasising the seriousness of the incident.
