MARGAO
While overloading of buses and unauthorized stops continue to be the order of the day in the commercial capital, Director General of Police Muktesh Chander’s men-in-uniform or his traffic sentinels are nowhere to be seen.
Questions are being raised by elected representatives and activists whether the DGP will deem it fit to ask the traffic sentinels to click photographs of these violations and forward the same to the authorities.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Sidharth Karapurkar demanded to know whether the Goa police and the traffic sentinels are only out to hound two-wheeler riders and let the buses go scot-free.
Unauthorized stop by buses near the Margao flyover has been the cause of traffic snarls in the city and this is an open secret, but citizens and two-wheeler riders are wondering why the traffic police cell headed by DySP Prabodh Shirwaikar and PI Mohan Gawde fail to crack a whip against it.
While the traffic police headed by a lady PSI descends early morning on the NH-17 at Dramapur-Sirlim to book two-wheelers riding without helmets, the traffic police do not deem fit to post a single traffic police personnel near the flyover to crack a whip against buses making unauthorized stops.
AAP leader Sidharth Karapurkar has raised several questions: “Does the traffic police or the RTO regularly check overcrowded buses? Do they carry out pollution checks of the buses? Why is the police and the RTO not consistent in cracking a whip against buses making unauthorized stops and contributing to the traffic congestion?”
He pointed out that the Goa police and the traffic sentinel should also bring overcrowded buses and those making unauthorized stops under their scanner.
GOACAN Coordinator Roland Martins was forthright in saying that the authorities have failed to rein in on overloaded buses.
He went a step further to demand a review of the requirements of buses, given that the number of buses and the trips have almost remained the same, while the population using public transport has increased manifold over the years.
Martins further pointed out that the authorities, including the RTO, should conduct regular checks of the public buses for pollution checks.
“It is the responsibility of the authorities concerned to see that the buses ply as per the established norms,” he added.
Aquem-Baixo Sarpanch Siddesh Bhagat said that overloading of buses is literally the order of the day right under the nose of the police and the RTO.
And, he questioned the efficacy of the pollution checks carried out by the public transport vehicles saying the ground reality appears totally different.
