Ah! The price of progress. And everyone wants that "progress" somewhere else. This attitude of "Not in my backyard (NIMBY)" is similar to throwing out the rubbish out the window, let someone else worry about the dirt outside.
If one wants progress one needs to sacrifice something. If done properly, it can be a good thing, the sacrifice worth it. But do they ever do it properly in Goa? Is there any road-sense there? There should not be any need for honking unless to draw attention to some impeding danger - not necessary at all to overtake. This means drivers ought to be trained to view into rear-view mirrors constantly to be aware of who is coming up behind them, in addition to keeping an eye on the speedometer, etc. Driver training is totally absent in India as a whole, and there is a You-tube documentary by the TopGear team on the sad state of licencing in India - 5 mins on a lonely track, reverse, and that's it - licence granted to drive in the confusion of Mumbai! Re freeways, first of all, no traffic other than motorised vehicles should be allowed on such roads - no cows/bulls/pedestrians or cyclists. There should be "secondary" parallel roads for such sedentary traffic, and ought to be segregated from each other by proper barriers, some of which can be built in such a way that they can provide sound-proofing. This way, pedestrian & cyclist "accidents" could be prevented. Yes, space is required for such concepts, which is badly lacking in Goa, but it can be done. Whether it will be done is another matter altogether. As Wendell says, perhaps there ought to be a "toll" charged for the commercial drivers to pass through Goa on their way from Pune to Karnataka, high enough to discourage them. Then again, they'll usually find a "reason" for passing thorugh Goa - and of course, baksheesh to the border cops could "buy" any amount of reasons. Gabriel. ----- Original Message ---- > From: Wendell Rodricks <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Sun, 27 February, 2011 3:26:00 AM > Subject: [Goanet] StyleSpeak: The Curse of Colvale > > > We all need progress but not at the cost of ruining a village. >
