As the Polish proverb goes, too many cooks spoil the broth. But in Goa, too many departments spoil the disaster management operation.
Panaji
The analogy was exemplified by the extraordinary use of a brand new double-decker Hop-On Hop-Off (HOHO) bus in a joint operation under disaster management carried out on Thursday by the personnel of at least seven departments along the Dayanand Bandodkar Road in Panaji.
The use of one of GTDC’s new toys, acquired for promotion of tourism, to trim trees was the talk of the town and the heightened curiosity was laid to rest only after a quick explanation from Assistant Divisional Officer of Directorate of Fire and Emergency Services Ajit Kamat.
“Tourism department had approached the deputy collector seeking an order to trim the tress along the road. GTDC plans to take these double-decker buses on the DB Road route and the trees were posing a hindrance. Deputy Collector ordered several departments to ensure smooth movement of the buses. We used the bus so as to map its height and trim the trees accordingly,” Kamat told The Goan.
The entire operation was carried out by personnel of the Goa Tourism Development Corporation, forest department, Corporation of City of Panaji, traffic police, mamlatdar and fire department.
It was only in the evening that Gavin Dias, General Manager of GTDC, issued a statement. “Based on the order issued, the respective departments had begun trimming of the branches today on the bus route between Paryatan Bhavan and Bhagwan Mahaveer Garden, Panjim. From the safety point of view, the branches were required to be trimmed which were touching the double-decker and posing a great amount of risk at most of the places on the route. The work will continue for the next few days ensuring hundred percent safety of passengers who would take a double-decker bus tour in the future,” the statement reads.
GTDC further declared that the exercise is a part of the pre-monsoon precautionary measures undertaken under disaster management by the concerned departments.
Previously, several low-level electric wires and cables were moved higher to safer levels by the electricity department, Goa broadband company and the local cable TV operators.
