The news that four students of a boarding school met with a watery grave after they ventured into a water-filled laterite stone quarry for swimming at Tuem in Pernem taluka was indeed shocking! However, such incidents involving school teens have been on the rise in recent times.
Is it sheer negligence on the part of school managements that lead to such unfortunate incidents! The tragedy that befell the group of students of the Tuem-based Don Bosco High School would suggest so.
In spite of having a teacher accompanying the students on the trek, that some of them dared to enter the stone-filled quarry for a swim is indeed worth pondering over.
The very fact that the presence of an elder to supervise their movements did not deter the youngsters from entering the water-logged area for a swim does not come as a surprise considering the adventurous streak in some children who do manage to hoodwink the seniors and eventually court disasters.
While the teacher needs to be commended for his act of bravery in saving two of the students from the clutches of a certain death, that the other four in his charge drowned in the quarry will always weigh on his conscience.
It is but natural that parents and guardians would vent their ire on the school management for this act of omission which turned into a tragedy.
Schools with boarding facilities have the added responsibility of keeping a watchful eye on the children always. Besides providing education for pupils who live in the premises, the teachers and wardens also have to content with the grooming of the youngsters in their care into responsible citizens of the country.
Living away from home and balancing an advanced curriculum encourages the boarders to become more disciplined and responsible. But let us not forget that they are also children, and some barely into their teens.
At an age where, apart from a strict regimen of studies; playing pranks and jostling with the seniors for attention consumes most of the child’s time, some leniency is expected. But such playful indulgence cannot come at the cost of any danger to the child’s life.
Excursions and treks are all fine, but they need to be planned to completely safe areas where the child is never at any risk. Yet, with the naughtiest from the lot always trying something new, the teachers can never afford to relax.
Nonetheless, taking school-going students on a trek to areas infested with craters formed due to rampant and unhindered mining during the wet weather is a risk magnified several hundred times.
Besides the water-logged pits, the slippery conditions prevalent are an open invitation for accidents. Even seasoned hikers are known to be overly cautious when they undertake monsoon treks.
All the same, while it would be a grave mistake to allow the school management to be completely absolved of the gross negligence, the Tuem tragedy should serve to shake the authorities out of ennui and ensure that such incidents will never again come to pass on the unwary locals.
Frequent cases of drowning in these areas during monsoon have exposed the dangers of unprotected quarry pits. To be frank, fencing of such land is rare and is only done due to public ire.
According to the locals, some quarries were dug decades ago and were left in that state after all the laterite stones were extracted.
It is not at all comforting to know that the failure to adhere to directions in an order of the Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal has been inadvertently responsible for the weekend disaster and a lion’s share of the blame squarely rests on the state administration.
The government’s failure to carry out NGT’s directions on monitoring scientific filling of pits dug for mining of basalt and masonry stones needs to be seen as that act of omission that cost four innocent lives.
The procrastination by the administration with no visible action to ensure these make-shift swimming pools of death in Goa’s countryside are being monitored either by the Goa State Pollution Control Board, the Goa Mining Department or the District Administration machinery, either in North or South Goa, is a problem which will have wide ramification for locals in the years to come.
It is also interesting to know that despite the order which requires the Pollution Control Board to take steps against offenders by way of prohibitory and coercive measures, including prosecution and recovery of compensation for damage to the environment; the state has failed miserably in implementing these directives in toto.
Considering the state of affairs in Goa that is not all shocking, the administration has always required a catalyst to spur it into action. The authorities are somehow never serious about matters within their purview and wait for some untoward incident to occur for them to respond.
Ordering the fencing of quarries and deputing police personnel to check illegal extraction of laterite stones and initiating stringent action against miscreants indulging in such acts is a very tame reaction to the whole issue – something akin to locking the stable door after the horses have bolted!
The dismissive attitude of the administration towards many such pits and quarries which lie in neglected state after stones and other material are extracted from them have contributed to such accidents leading to loss of lives.
It is for the authorities to keep a strict vigilance after permission is granted to parties for quarrying at a particular site. Stone quarries get filled up with water during monsoon attracting the youth for swimming. Abandoned quarries, which are so common in the state, also pose dangers for locals during the rainy season.
Although attractive monsoon sights for tourists and picnickers, these ‘seasonal water-bodies’ are however potential threats which can also claim lives.
While fencing of the quarries could to some extent reduce the risks, better ways need to be envisaged by the administration to stave off threats to lives at these ‘death traps’. Somehow the state government’s ‘predilection’ for craters has brought it enough brickbats. While the roads and highways in the state are virtually infested with them, their treacherous presence in the mining areas has its own share of sordid sagas to narrate.
An administration that has to take into account the exigencies of a typical topography alive with natural and unnatural features while ensuring that they do not pose perilous threats to the locals has however failed to do so by inevitably compromising on the safety regulations.
Looking for scapegoats is a ‘ritualistic’ formality after any disaster, more so when the state stands blamed for its inefficiency in preventing the calamitous situation. The insensitivity of the local administration towards the ‘ground’ realities is indeed a matter of grave concern!