Aliya Abreu
PANAJI
In what is a first for the State, Calangute Police Inspector (PI) Salim Shaikh, along with three constables Dipesh Naik, Laddoo Parab, and Govind Naik got down on their hands and feet and helped Cecille Rodrigues’ #Rosto campaign to complete painting their 100th speed breaker in the wee hours of the morning of January 16.
While Rodrigues, Seema Chimulkar and Prakash Malani have been the three main people painting speed breakers since December 17, 2019, Rodrigues admits that it was the cops’ involvement that helped them complete painting their 100th speed breaker at 2:00 am on January 16.
“A lot of cops who’ve crossed us gave us a thumbs up for our work, but this is the first time a cop stopped and asked if we needed help. The PI and constables went out of their way to help, and helped us paint five speed breakers in the Calangute jurisdiction, which helped us touch the 100 mark,” Rodrigues told “The Goan” on Thursday.
PI Shaikh, in his turn, had only words of praise for the #Rosto campaign. When asked how he thought of getting involved on the ground, he said, “The #Rosto team is doing good work, which I, as a human being, appreciated and felt like I should reach out in some way. They’re painting the speed breakers without any equipment, from scratch, and I was looking out for them to help them. I really like the work they’re doing.”
Rodrigues and the rest of the #Rosto team started their speed-breaker painting at 10:30 in the morning on January 15 and went on continuously till 2 the next morning, with only an hour’s break each for lunch and dinner. By the 100th speed breaker, their arms, knees and feet were exhausted. But Rodrigues vows to continue painting speed breakers after a break of two days.
The biggest challenge for them is to distinguish the illegal speed breakers from the authorised ones. By law, speed breakers are supposed to be marked, have reflectors, have signboards, have street lights, and sometimes all four things are missing, laments Rodrigues. “We just never thought all this was important till this campaign started,” she adds.
It is peoples’ funding that has kept the speed breaker campaign going, and people stop to help out with funding. “When I started I thought I would do just ten speed breakers in my constituency, but then someone from UK
sent me money and told me not to stop. People have since shelled out, and have kept the campaign going,” she says.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari appreciated the #Rosto team on Twitter two days ago, calling them “Road Safety Heroes.” “Cecille Rodrigues, Seema Chimulkar and Prakash Malani have developed unique road stamp ‘Rosto ‘ which cautions drivers of blind spots, thus reducing accidents on the road. #RoadSafetyHeroes,” his tweet read, alongside a picture of the three.
