Road safety is everyone’s responsibility
Yesterday’s accident on the Porvorim Flyover was deeply saddening. Sadly, it is yet another reminder of the many road accidents that occur every day, resulting in precious lives being unnecessarily lost. As our roads become wider and smoother, there is a tendency among some motorists to accelerate simply for the thrill of speed. This makes proper road-safety awareness and guidance on lane discipline more important than ever. Before changing lanes, motorists and bikers must use their indicators, check their rear-view and side mirrors, assess the traffic around them, and only then make the lane change safely. Unfortunately, many road users change lanes without adequately checking what is approaching from behind. Newspapers and social media can play an important role by regularly highlighting road-safety rules, responsible driving and riding, lane discipline, and the need to change lanes with caution. Repeated awareness campaigns can help make these practices a habit. There is also a need for greater consideration towards pedestrians and cyclists. They should be given priority and adequate space, rather than being intimidated by incessant and unnecessary honking. In many countries, one hardly hears the constant use of horns that we experience on our roads. Here, however, excessive honking almost seems to have become a part of driving culture. Road safety is a shared responsibility. A little patience, awareness and consideration from every road user can prevent accidents and, most importantly, save lives.
Raja Melvani, Panaji
Tighten excise checks
Last Sunday night (Sept 6), suspecting something amiss, the excise officials at Polem check-post checked a vehicle and seized 300 liquor cartons worth about Rs 18.72 lakh. These were hidden behind vegetable sacks and being smuggled from Goa to Karnataka. While the officials were busy checking the vehicle, the driver and cleaner fled (NT Sep 9, 2026). Liquor smuggling either into or via Karnataka and Maharashtra, is a recurring occurrence and increases if some elections, festivals or celebrations are around the corner. In most cases, the press release would state that “the drivers and cleaners escaped under the cover of darkness.” Does smuggling take place only during the nights? The excise officials need to learn from traffic cops some tricks. Firstly, when a vehicle is flagged down for checking, two or three cops surround it and one may even daringly stand in front of the vehicle so that the driver does not zoom off. Secondly, the cops either ask the driver the keys or snatch them (especially from two-wheelers). The excise officials could follow suit so that drivers and cleaners are caught and glean details of the nefarious activities and the kingpin of the smuggling operations.
Sridhar D Iyer, Caranzalem
A greener Ganesh
Installation of Idols of Ganesha is in full swing across Maharashtra and elsewhere. Maharashtra, in particular, will witness a splendid 10-day festival filled with devotion, music, and cuisine. The Maharashtra government had told the Bombay High Court that it was not possible to do away with the Plaster of Paris (POP) idols at once, and that it will be done in a phased manner. In a recent Mann Ki Baat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged the people to use clay instead of POP. Clay idols are costly and heavy, but since they are made of “shadu mati”, they dissolve easily in water bodies whereas POP idols take time to dissolve. Since the latter contain pesticides and chemicals, it is obvious that immersing these idols contaminate the lakes. The highly mouldable POP idols are affordable, light, resistant and amenable to mass production, and hence they are popular. The choice of material also depends on where the idols are installed and how large they are.
Dr Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
E20’s silent rollout
We have had one of the PMO advisers recently complimenting the government on the E20 transition saying that it has gone smoothly. This E20 transition is yet another ‘jhumla’ perpetrated on the people of India by the BJP government. A neat sleight of hand in slipping in the E20 fuel at all petrol pumps from April 2026. One wondered why there was no big announcement about this being a yet another feather in the cap of the government but then they probably thought that discretion was better and silently implemented the transition at the dead of night as April Fool’s Day dawned. This devious move was as big, if not bigger, than the Demonetisation unleashed on the people of India since Petrol is the engine of the economy while Currency only lubricates the Economy. This government launched the E20 transition despite knowing that it would damage the vehicles and some of the parts would be required to be replaced and it would also result in lower fuel economies. Concerns expressed by SIAM, the automobile association of vehicle manufacturing company were suppressed and in fact their adverse reports on the transition were asked to be withdrawn after having been published.
S Kamat, Mysuru
