VALPOI
In a shocking incident, a 59-year-old junior engineer from Valpoi, and serving at the Water Resources Department (WRD) office in Valpoi, died after jumping off the bridge at Padeli-Sattari on Friday morning.
The death of Aziz Shah sparked widespread grief across Sattari taluka, with many expressing shock and raising questions about the reasons behind the suspected suicide. Locals now suspect excessive work pressure may have led Shah to take the drastic step.
According to sources, the incident took place at about 11 am when Shah was on his way to visit a project in Ganje along with some colleagues.
During the journey, he stopped the vehicle on the Padeli bridge and suddenly jumped into the water below. It is suspected that his head struck a rock during the fall, causing severe injuries. Two youth nearby attempted to rescue him, but their efforts were unsuccessful. He died on the spot.
As news of the incident spread, a large number of people gathered at the spot. Police were informed and reached the scene, conducting a panchnama and taking the body into custody.
Fire brigade personnel retrieved the body from the water and sent it to the Valpoi Community Health Centre. After formalities, the body was shifted to the Goa Medical College Hospital at Bambolim for post-mortem examination.
Shock and grief
Family members expressed shock over the incident. They stated that a person who always motivated others to live positively and happily could not have taken such a drastic step.
Relatives recalled Shah as a humble, cooperative, and kind-hearted nature, who had been serving in the Valpoi WRD office for many years and was always ready to help citizens without hesitation, earning him goodwill and respect among colleagues and within the community.
Work pressure suspected cause
Shah’s sudden and extreme step has left the community in disbelief, and various speculations are now being discussed regarding the cause of his death.
According to sources, Shah had been under significant work pressure for the past two months. He had reportedly shared with friends that he was feeling stressed due to workload and was even considering voluntary retirement. He had only about one year left before his official retirement.
Currently, only two engineers are handling the entire workload of the WRD in Sattari taluka. With 12 village panchayats and one municipality under their jurisdiction, the workload is said to be extremely high, leading to mounting stress.
Locals are now questioning whether this excessive workload could have been a contributing factor behind the tragedy. There has been a long-standing demand to recruit more engineers in the WRD office in Valpoi.
Local MLA Deviya Rane had also raised this issue multiple times in the legislative assembly, but no concrete action had been taken so far.
Notably, this is the second such incident involving an engineer from the same department in the past five years. Two years ago, another engineer had died by suicide, raising concerns about the department’s working conditions.
