PANAJI
Even as the news of the SUV plunging into the Zuari river spread like wildfire, politicos rushed to the site and those from the opposition parties were quick to point fingers at the government.
Those who were present at the site included Nuvem MLA Aleixo Sequeira, St Andre MLA Viresh Borkar, former MLA Francisco Silveira, AAP State President Amit Palekar, GPCC President Amit Patkar, Valmiki Naik, Captain Viriato Fernandes, Olencio Simoes and others.
While all of them expressed grief over the loss of the lives of four people in the mishap, AAP blamed the government for the mishap and Palekar laid blame on the pothole on the bridge.
“Look at the brake marks. They start exactly at the pothole which points that the driver lost control over the vehicle after hitting the pothole,” said Palekar, while stating that the government is responsible for the mishap and for the loss of four invaluable lives.
He further requested the government to sort out the issues plaguing the Zuari bridge so that more such mishaps do not occur.
GPCC President Amit Patkar said the government should conduct safety audit of bridges, a demand which the Congress MLAs have been demanding in the Assembly.
“The crash barriers are crumbling, there are potholes on the Zuari bridge and it is high time that the government conducts safety audit of bridges in the State. Also, the government should open the Zuari bridge at the earliest and not cause unnecessary delays,” Patkar added.
But, St Andre MLA Viresh Borkar said he does not wish to speak much on the issue as the moment does not demand so. However, he appreciated the personnel of the fire services, coastal police, Goa police and Indian navy for conducting an extensive search operation to locate the vehicle.
Former MLA Silveira said once he came to know of the incident, he immediately coordinated with police officials and other departments on the search operation. He also appreciated all the officials and personnel of all departments for the successful search operation.
