VASCO
Appealing to the people not to overspeed, Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho on Friday said the installation of CCTVs and signages would be fast-tracked in the State.
Speaking to reporters after collecting soil from various religious places, Godinho said the SUV mishap off the Zuari bridge which claimed four lives was tragic and he was pained by the incident.
"We have already made the rules very strict but despite that, we cannot expect policemen to stop you in the wee hours for overspeeding. I humbly request people not to overspeed even if there is no traffic on the road.”
Godinho said being a transport minister, he was also the chairman of the Safety Council.
"We have placed two proposals on fast-track, one of which is putting up of signages where we will spend Rs 2.5 crore and while we will transfer this amount to the PWD, they will have to do it as fast as possible so that these signages are installed. We are also going to install CCTV cameras and some will be installed by the police, but we will coordinate this," said Godinho.
Commenting on demands by opposition parties for a safety audit of bridges, the minister said: “The government has already done all required audits and this is why we have the new Zuari bridge at full pace but it was delayed by two years because of the pandemic.”
“We cannot blame the government all the time because no matter what safety railings we put in, an overspeeding vehicle will definitely crash it and fall off the bridge," said Godinho.
He said efforts will be made to install extra CCTV cameras at various locations so that authorities can monitor incidents of overspeeding.
“People have fear of receiving challans at home because they will be caught in the act of overspeeding. We may have a lot of monitoring forces like the police and RTO, but ultimately it is the people who have to take utmost care," said Godinho.
