Clear bushes over signboards
Traffic signboards along the main road are being installed with the sole purpose of assuring safety to innocent travellers. However at some locations we often notice such signboards covered with bushes or branches of adjoining trees. One peculiar instance in this regard is the Farmagudi-Veling route in Ponda. Traffic signboards along this route have been covered with bushes and hence vehicular traffic proceeding along the road do not get acquainted with the necessary instruction marked over the concerned signboards. Such a sorry state of affairs is bound to lead to a serious mishap, sooner or later. In order to assure safety to precious human lives, it would be worth for the concerned authorities to chop the grown up bushes over traffic signboards along above route so that the existing dangerous situation is brought under firm control. No doubt, travellers need to be assured a safe and comfortable journey at all costs.
Pravin U Sardessai, Adpai
Fireworks in football
Taking cognizance of the noise pollution witnessed during Diwali festival in the state the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has reportedly constituted ten teams to measure the noise levels generated by firecrackers. It is a known fact that the ignition of fireworks, fire crackers, serial crackers and several aerial crackers not only cause noise pollution but also lead to toxic emissions, which have an adverse effect on human health in particular and on the environment in general. However it is seen that at the ongoing ISL matches, fireworks are being ignited at various times, when the players enter the ground, at the start of the match, when a goal is scored and at the end of the match. Imagine the amount of fireworks that will be lit in a match where six goals are scored as was the case in the match between Mumbai FC and North East United when Mumbai City FC won the match 5-1. In the major football league tournaments across the globe including the World Cup one seldom sees fireworks being lit in the stadiums.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Protests get louder
The writers, movie directors, artists have given up their awards to protest against increasing signs of intolerance, The government just admonishes people here and there without sincerely addressing the issues of spreading communal hatred and intolerance. Differences of opinions are bound to be there in a democracy, but should not be concluded as unreasonable dissent with personal axe to grind. The protest by the writers and artists is pointedly assertive because of the intellectual, preeminent position they command in the society, The vilification campaign launched by the government to discredit their protest is definitively counterproductive. People can see through the smoke screen. The government has not taken any steps to stop the slide or to consider the reasons that unanimously encourages section of the society to speak boldly. The signs of time are there for all to see and judge it is neither anti- national nor anti-BJP but a real concern for the degradation of personal freedom and choices within the framework of law. Defending the indefensible by unleashing a cacophony of voices is no solution to the ground reality. There is no doubt that there is a cascading effect and the voices will get louder by the day.
Nelson Lopes Chinchinim
