VASCO
A ground built and maintained by Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) at Baina is being frequented by migrant labourers for gambling all throughout the day.
According to locals, the migrants arrive at the secluded MPT ground and engage in gambling and card games throughout the day. They claim that students, who come to play on the ground, could get influenced by the acts of the migrants.
Residents have demanded that Vasco police take note of this as there is a school with over 500 students in the neighbourhood. They said the Vasco police should strict patrolling in the area. Further, they expressed concern over the fact that people occupying the stands as spectators resort to gambling.
Residents said they have witnessed groups using foul language and engaging in petty fights over the card
games. Someday a fight could even lead to a murder, they feared.
A resident of Baina Rajesh Yadav said that some people who come with goats and cattle to the ground also join the gamblers.
“There is a CISF rest house on one side of the ground and on the other a school. Parents who come here also see the gambling but fear to complain as the nefarious persons who gamble could pose a danger to them. Why cannot police patrol this area? The children who come here to play also get scared. We feel this could send a wrong signal to the students,” said Yadav.
“The gamblers are not even scared of the CISF personnel who sometimes come to run on the ground. The police have to take the most stringent action against these gamblers immediately,” Yadav demanded.
