After the initial assurance that it would be completed in eight months and the various further extended deadlines, the Calvim bridge will finally be inaugurated today on the auspicious occasion of Dussehra. With the state coffers empty was there a need for this debt ridden government to release half page advertisements in today’s newspapers announcing this function?
While we need to congratulate Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on being able to complete a first project initiated by his government we need to remind Manohar Parrikar that the mere inauguration of the bridge will not bring solace to the parents of those four young kids who continue to be distraught over a very tainted police investigation into the accident that led to the death of their little children. On 18th February 2012 in that horrific Calvim tragedy, six persons including four small school going children lost their lives, when a local bus plunged into the river overshooting the ferry ramp. Eye witnesses recall that Samarth Shirodkar the son of then President of Aldona BJP block Committee Mr. Shivanand Shirodkar was at the wheels of the 17 year old rickety bus. Locals say that Samarth who had been rusticated from the local school for misbehavior used to frequently steer the bus on a short joy ride till the ferry point while the driver alighted at the main junction. In a clear case of a cover up to save the real accused after a sloppy politically driven investigation, the police charge sheeted the bus owner Chandrakant Naik and his son Yogesh Naik who was wrongly named as the bus driver at the time of the accident. The police investigation has intentionally failed to fix responsibility on Samarth Shirodkar, the person really responsible for recklessly steering the bus into the river causing this avoidable tragedy. Everyone in the locality knows who the real culprit is except this government which has conveniently shielded him. The parents of those four young children are flustered that the real culprit after having driven their children to a watery grave is still at large. Will the Chief Minister who is also the Home Minister explain why the real culprit of this fatal accident has not been brought to book? Is this Government shielding the real culprit despite its vow of Zero tolerance, good governance and transparency. This government will have to face the wrath of those four angels now in heavenly abode and their grieving families who feel terribly let down. While the Calvim bridge today becomes a reality let us remember the victims of that tragedy. The four young girls Priyal Salgaonkar, Nagle Gracias and Elvina Dias along with her sister Diana Dias who lost their lives, not forgetting Dayanand Hoble and Josephine Dias who were also traveling in that fatal bus. The very bubbly 10 year old Priyal was the only hope for her widowed mother. Aires Rodrigues T1 - B30, Ribandar Retreat Ribandar - Goa - 403006 Mobile: 9822684372