TRIBALS HOLD PANJIM TO RANSOM FOR FOUR HOURS TO PROTEST UNJUSTICE

Hundreds of motorists found themselves trapped in a four-hourlong jam—the worst the state has seen in recent times—on NH17 and all roads leading into the capital city as the United Tribals Association Alliance laid siege to the Mandovi bridges.
With the police caught totally unprepared to deal with the situation, serpentine queues stretched almost till the O’Coqueiro circle on the north bank while on the southern side vehicles were lined up till the Merces junction and Santa Monica jetty.
Although UTAA had been publicly proclaiming that it would mobilize at least 4,000 people, and indeed did so , the police expected only 1,000-odd agitators, and posted a mere 40-50 of their personnel to deal with the agitators. As many as two ambulances were caught in the middle of the chaos, while another two could not make it to the distressed callers, sources in EMRI said. Several people could not reach the airport in time for their flights.
“I was stuck in the jam till 2.15pm while my flight was at 3. There was no way I could have made it,” said Anirudh Patir, an IIT student from Delhi. Motorists approaching Panaji from the Porvorim side who got wind of what lay ahead drove to the Betim ferry point. At about 1 pm, there were almost 600 persons at the jetty trying to cross the river. “Not a policeman was in sight. When you have hundreds of people getting out of the ferry and another hundred fighting to get in, there could be a stampede. The situation would have got out of hand but there were a few people who started managing the crowd,” said Panaji- based businessman Mujtaba Haaziq. He reached the jetty at 12.45pm but managed to get on a ferry only at 2.45pm. He reached office only at 3.13pm.
A worried parent from Porvorim asked a friend to pick up his children from their school at Panaji and wait at the Panaji ferry point. He drove to Betim, crossed over on a ferry and brought his kids back home. The UTAA is demanding a tribal welfare ministry and department, reservations in the assembly and protesting the non-utilization of budgetary provisions made for scheduled tribes.