Margao: Serious concerns about systemic lapses across several govt departments came to the fore at the South Goa district road safety committee meeting on Friday.Roland Martins of Goacan, a consumer network organisation, questioned the validity of a recently conducted safety audit, and neither the traffic police nor the transport department was consulted during the audit process.Significant gaps were flagged in ambulance availability and compliance, particularly in rural talukas, where vehicles and drivers were reportedly absent during emergencies. The education department was criticised for failing to implement road safety curricula introduced for Classes 6 to 9 and for neglecting mandatory student transport safety committees.Concerns were also raised about the tourism department’s absence from meetings, uncalibrated breathalysers used by traffic police, non-compliance with excise department notifications on drink-and-drive awareness in bars, and poor awareness of the hit-and-run compensation scheme.Martins called for monthly compliance reports from all departments and urged village panchayats and municipalities to submit names of road safety committee members for scheduled training.
