Traffic Safety week and fortnight have become an opportunity for traffic cops and RTO officials to fill their pockets.

It is indeed very true that thousands of innocent lives are lost in Goa every year due to indiscipline or rash and negligent driving. The government or the Traffic Cell of the police department and the Rural Transport office organise safety week and fortnight twice a year in a bid to instill, inculcate discipline driving. However it has not only become an annual event only to facilitate traffic police to file their reports for the audit of the Transport department.

The traffic cell personnel do conduct talks and camps for public transport drivers like buses, trucks, rickshaws, pilot and college students or those who have just crossed the threshold of youth and are eligible to apply for driving license. This exercise is being carried out for decades but fails to bring down the count of accidents and deaths, in fact the graph of deaths due to motor vehicle accidents is rising.

Daylight robbery:- Gang of Traffic cops lining their pockets.

There are various reasons for this increase in accidental death. Rash and negligent driving, lack of respect for human and animal life, drunken driving, underage being allowed to drive by their parents. All these reasons could be attributed to the general public. But the government and its department or cells and RTOs concerned with traffic management cannot be absolved of the blame since they are the authorities responsible for issuing licenses, or penalising offenders, managing and regulating traffic in the cities, patrolling highways. Basically overseeing the flow of traffic throughout the state.

Ironically all the minions of the Transport department have become fountain-head of corruption. Otherwise how can one justify 16-17 years old youth procuring driving licenses, how can they explain public transport vehicles and transport vehicles drive on treadles tyres, criss-cross the state with load beyond the permissible limits. Is it not a common sight to see the helpers pushing overhead cables skywards so as to let the heavy vehicle pass?

Some of these heavy vehicles (including Kadambas) struggle to climb even the Siridao climb as the maintenance and servicing of these vehicles is almost negligible. Traffic violations are plenty and it is humanly impossible for handful of transport personnel to bring about discipline in this important sector.

Sing-song writer Varun Carvalho rams his sports BMW into a gadda
at Varca during the wee hours of the morning.

Rural Transport Officers fatten their accounts with illegal money extracted and extorted through bribes for issuing licenses to individuals who are not thorough with rules and traffic signages, issuing driving licenses to underage youth for consideration, RTO officer’s palms are greased before inspection of transport vehicles. Over-laden interstate vehicles are allowed to enter the State at check posts at the borders. Over and above officers deputed in the enforcement wing of Rural Transport Office live a very comfy life. Three to four officers travel in official air conditioned vehicle during their rounds which is a rare occasion, while a small section of traffic cops and Home Guards toll in the scorching sun to regulate flow of traffic entering and exiting the cities.

The main job of the traffic cell personnel is to manage and regulate traffic movement in the cities, ironically a large chuck of traffic cops are deputed to issue challans and collect revenue for the government. And this is where corruption begins. A miniscule percentage of the amount collected by way of fines for not wearing helmets or seat belt, talking on the mobile while riding and driving, three persons sitting on a two wheeler, not carrying driving licence or registration documents, pollution certificate, no insurance etc. gets deposited in the government kitty while a huge percentage of it ends in the pockets of the traffic cell personnel later to be distributed from traffic DySP to the traffic police inspector to the traffic cell constable.

So the government should realize that sending RTO officers or traffic cops on the field to collect revenue is bringing it a bad name and adds to the corruption charges against the government. Safety weeks and fortnights are opportunities for the traffic officials to fatten their personal weath.

What the government must realize is that we are far far behind in enforcing disciplined driving. Gone are the days when physical presence of the policemen and other transport officials on the road was required. What we need today is CCTV cameras, radars, speed monitors along the highways, state roads, important junctions and accident prone zones to capture over-speeding, drunken driving, rash driving and other offences. The footage transmitted by these electronic equipments should be beamed at a centrally located offices from where violators should be issued fines which have to be paid directly in the government treasury by individuals.

Since Goa is a tourist state where bars and restaurants are plentiful and liquor cheap, transport officials should be made to check drivers leaving the restaurants. If car owners are found to have consumed alcohol they should be fined and not allowed to proceed to their destination unless family members, relatives or friends who can drive are summoned.

There is an urgent need to raise the amount for fines. The minimum amount for traffic violation should be in thousands and severe the violations higher should be amount. Fines for over speeding, rash overtaking, drunken driven, talking on the cellphone and texting should be much steeper coupled with suspension of driving license for a year. In case of causing death due to rash and negligent driving fines should coupled with non-bailable arrest, suspension of driving licence till the court of law decides the matter, which in most instances take almost three to five years.

CM's picture launching new bikes for traffic cops that went viral
on the of the social media for the caption.

The speed limit in Goa on the National Highways is just 50kms/hr, on the bridges it is 30kms/hr. Besides speed-breakers are erected even on the highway but every year almost thousand deaths are reported. The government should realize that something is really wrong somewhere and get its act together immediately. It should bring in stringent rules and regulations for issuance of license. The government should seriously keep a watch on corrupt RTO officials who dish out licenses for consideration.

If the government does not get its act together in totality taking all the aspects into consideration, things are bound to get worse and more innocent lives will be wasted on the roads.

Weekend Special:- Sweet and sour Ambado curry

Requirements

1  kg ambades

1⁄4 teaspoon turmeric powder

1  bloc coconut jaggery

1  teaspoon salt

1  inch ginger

1/4 bunch curry leaves. (currypatta)

 2 Green chillies

1  teaspoon oil

2  sliced onions

5  cloves garlic (optional)

1  large coconut, grated

2  inches cinnamon

3  peeled cardamoms

1  tablespoon coriander seed

1⁄4 cup water

Preparations

Peel the ambades, salt it and apply powered jiggery and let it stay.

Grind grated coconut with ginger, chillies, onions, cinnamon, cardamoms and coriander seeds with water and extract juice.

Heat 1 tsp oil in pan and sauté 2 sliced onions,

Add extracted juice and bring it to boil. Simmer the flame and add ambades.

10 minutes later remove off the fire and add curry leaves.

Did Babush rape the minor victim or did he not? Or is it a mysterious hand ochestrating his political downfall?

For the last three days St. Cruz MLA Anatasio alias Babush Monserrate is making the headlines for all the wrong reasons. It is being alleged that he is involved in the buying and raping a minor girl after spiking her drinks. The investigation into the case seems to be on the fast track as the police involved in the investigation right from the police inspector to the rank of the superintendent of police are moving at a fast pace from noting down the victim’s statement to deciding which police situation should investigate the crime to taking the girl for medical examination to conducting searches of the house as the scene of offence.

And while all this is happening so quickly high profile Babush Monserrate calmly walks into the Crime Branch and surrenders himself to the cops the very next day unlike actual culprits who will hide from the law for some days and when the going gets tough surrender.

To my mind there is something highly suspicious about this particular human trafficking and rape saga.

Undoubtedly, the accused is no saint as there are many criminal cases registered against him in the past. Babush has been booked for extortion, attacking Panjim police station, assaulting men in uniform and was alleged to be part of the Miramar sex scandal. There are also rumours that he has weakness for women.

After one night in police lock-up

Babush is also no stranger to being behind bars. He was arrested and jailed for attacking the police station in the year 2006. So this is not the first time that he is going to spend some time behind bars but surely it will be for the first time that he is likely to spend a long time behind it. For the next three months atleast Babush’s freedom to the outside world will be restricted. His movement to the world outside would be either from the police lock-up or judicial custody to the court premises for extension of remand till the chargesheet is filed in the court of law.

This naturally means curtailing his movements of meeting his supporters and workers as a build-up to general assembly election in 2017. Which translates into restraining him from building his votebank, energizing his network in the Panjim constituency which he declared he would contest from. The strange hand that guides the charges and is directing the investigation wants to put spokes into St. Cruz MLA’s ambition political plan of taking over now defunct United Goans Democratic Party.

The reasons I say that charges seem to be cooked up is because many questions have remained unanswered. First and foremost question is who in the right mind would buy a girl for Rs. 50 lakhs. I do not think Babush is so naïve to dish out such huge amount to a poor family. Even to satisfy his lust it is unlikely that he would consider paying half a crore. And for that amount the accused could travel around the world and chose and pick as many women in sex trade from hookers, to call-girls to escorts to porn-stars.

Assuming for a moment that he did rape this minor girl, no man with such high profile would buy a minor girl and rape her the same night. With so much to lose, Babush could have easily housed the Nepali mother and victim one of his numerous flats allegedly extorted from builders, shower the girl with presents ranging from clothes to gold, dine her in top restaurants, take her on tours to various parts of India and world gain her trust and then set his evil designs. The question that remains to be answered why would the accused use his own premises to spike the drinks of the victim and commit the dastardly offence and sleep with her the entire night till the victim wakes up to see him sitting in the room only with his boxers on. Why would he keep the blood stained bedsheets or covers on for the victim to see. Most criminals would want evidence to disappear and criminals hardly stay at the scene of the offence after having committed the crime. Unless he is used to having girls brought to him regularly with his wife and two adult boys having full knowledge of his sexcapades.

Did Taleigao MLA knew about her husband's sexcapades?

Thirdly, why is the police very eager to provide plenty of details on daily basis about the case while investigation is in progress to the media. Would they do the same if a cabinet minister was involved in the crime. I’m sure they would not even register the FIR. The gullible police are taking cover behind the Supreme Court judgement of registering and arresting accused with the mere statement of the victim. And if that is so the police should do it in all the complaints filed before them.

The strange hand that is involved in what seems to be a frame-up and guiding, directing the investigation is in indeed in jitters that the current government might lose their prestigious seat in the capital city.

But if what the police are claiming is true that they have clinching evidence of St. Cruz MLA raping a minor then he should indeed be dealt with an iron hand and the police and prosecution should ensure that the accused is convicted and sentenced to stringent punishment prescribed under the law.