PANJIM: Tourism Minister Manohar Azgaonkar has directed the Tourism Department to formulate new rules and regulations or amend the existing laws to give them more teeth to crack down on unauthorised and illegal activities on the beaches. The minister also sought to expedite the tendering process for the appointment of new beach cleaning contractors as the temporary contract with Drishti Lifesaving Services for beach cleaning is due to lapse shortly.
In his second review meeting held on Tuesday, the minister also cautioned the department of fixing accountability and responsibility for any lapses. “…for ensuring effective and strict implementation of the rules and regulations to crack down and also pre-empt unauthorised activities from taking place whether by shack operators, water sports operators, unauthorised vendors or any other tourism stakeholders,” says a statement.
A joint action committee is proposed to be constituted comprising of representatives from the Department of Tourism, Goa Police, Captain of Ports and others to study and frame guidelines in order to clamp down on nuisances along beach stretches.
From May till date, 594 cases of unauthorised tourism activities were booked by the Police while 484 cases were reported between January and April 2017. The data was presented by the State police during the meeting.
Reviewing the death of a jet ski operator at Varca last month, Azgaonkar has directed the Department to suspend the licence of the water sports operator pending completion of the hearing and investigation in the matter. The entire process should be completed in a time bound manner, he stated.
With regards to allotment of shacks for the forthcoming season, the minister has again directed the department to ensure that all procedures are completed and required licenses and permissions obtained from GCZMA at the earliest. This will ensure that the final shack allotment process is completed by August 15. Shack operators have been demanding that the process of issuing shack licenses begin before the commencement of the tourist season to save their business from facing losses.
