A 19-year-old girl Aarti Gond tragically lost her life in a tree fall accident near Church Square Panaji, on Sunday. Grief descended on the family as death snatched away a young life in the most unexpected circumstances. Condolences poured in inside the Legislative Assembly even as Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the family of the deceased girl. Is that the end of the matter? It's not. The question is, who is responsible for Aarti's death?
Panaji has been hit by furious monsoons year after year. Flooding and tree collapses have been a constant in recent times. The CCP as part of their monsoon preparedness usually undertake cleaning of gutters, drains and prune overgrown trees. Last year the CCP engaged the Forest Department to survey trees posing danger after being alarmed by a Gulmohar tree coming crashing down on a car in Sanguem killing one occupant while seriously injuring another. The CCP Commissioner mentioned last year that "irresponsible road digging” could have affected the roots of some trees.
This year it has been a different story. While completely diverting attention to deadlines of Smart City works, the CCP shifted its focus away from trees and did not feel the need to undertake pruning or ask the Forest department to undertake a survey. There were more reasons to be cautious this time because the quality of smart city works has been seriously questioned repeatedly with even Panaji MLA Atanasio alias Babush Monserrate raising apprehensions. “It is seen that some roots have been cut off due to Smart City works”, he had said.
Panaji has seen around 41 tree collapse cases this month itself with the monsoon in full spate, two of them near the Panaji church square, besides the one that claimed the life of Aarti. A survey now undertaken by the Forest Department has recommended trimming 75 trees and felling another 16. Goa has witnessed a prolonged spell of rain extending to over a fortnight with rainfall crossing the 100-inch mark, and it is still pouring.
By any logic, authorities should have taken care of trees and branches that have been dangerously looming overhead, doing what it is supposed to do. Even if there was a tearing hurry to complete the pending works, there was no justifiable reason to overlook this risk to lives. The local MLA, CCP and authorities have blood on their hands, and no amount of money can compensate loss of human lives. It took this death for the Panaji MLA to direct the CCP Mayor and Forest Officer to examine trees posing danger in the city. Why did Monserrate ignore trees while conducting his review visits? What was the Mayor doing?
Monserrate mentioned in early June that the contractor of Smart City works will be held responsible for the works, and rightly so. May we ask, who takes responsibility for the untimely death of Aarti?
The insensitivity of the issue must be understood against the backdrop of how people moved courts prompting justices to descend on the roads. The death of Aarti is unfortunate, and those responsible must face criminal negligence. Unless responsibility is fixed, those involved will continue to shed crocodile tears, offer empty condolences to the family, keep passing the buck and happily move on.
