The peaceful village of Keri is located in Pernem taluka and consists of a population of around 2,500 people. Though the two parts of Keri and Tiracol are geographically divided, only one panchayat serves the two areas.
The village is situated on the border of Goa and Maharashtra with the Tiracol River flowing in the middle.
It is based at a distance of 19 km from Pernem town and 28 km from Mapusa and is surrounded by Bardez taluka towards the south, Sawantwadi taluka towards the north and Bicholim taluka towards the east.
The village is immersed in rich heritage. From the reign of the Maratha rule to that of the Portuguese and the brave heroics in the celebrated freedom struggle by the likes of Jivba Dada Kerkar and Hirve Guruji amongst others, and there is a lot that has shaped the village today.
The village which is the birth place of the great warrior Jivba Dada Kerkar, is blessed with beautiful surroundings that have hills and the river. Originally inhabited by the Kerkar family, the Shri Ravalnath temple located in heart of the village is said to be their spectator.
Coming to the beach, it certainly stands out compared to other beaches, but there is a concern about the drop in tourist footfalls.
Locals claim that the numbers have reduced by 50 per cent.
Further, the beach, which previously had a thick cover of casuarina trees, which was most its major highlight, is now on the verge of extinction. It used to offer shade and added to the charm of the beach and locals have called on the government to take steps to tackle the issue.
But the most pressing concern is that of soil beach, which locals point out, has reduced the size of the beach to a great extent.
And even though the State government has spent crores of rupees in building a protection wall, the erosion still continues.
Moreover, the recent cyclone and heavy rainfall has caused even more damage, washing away the sand. Locals and others who carry out seasonal tourism related business are left with little options this year as there is hardly any space to erect shacks.
Besides this, the village has not seen any major development in the past few years. The Keri-Tiracol Bridge, was one development project that the locals were looking forward to, as it would have connected the Tiracol part to Keri. However, this project is incomplete and has been lying abandoned since the year 2014.
While some of the villagers point out that a positive of the status quo, is that the village still retains its identity and is not lost to commercialization like other some other coastal villages, it can be seen as a boon or a bane to the tourists, that they can only admire the beach and the village surroundings and return back given the low availability of services for tourists, which are available at other tourist destinations.
For the locals of the quintessential Goan village, most of them are busy with agriculture, fishing, coconut and spice cultivation, ferry boats, toddy-tappers, cashew feni etc in addition to tourism.
Speaking about the civic issues in the village, its close proximity to the river side ensures that the village never saves scarcity of water. Since the village is situated on river side, the village never faces scarcity of water. While, a lot of the houses have their own wells, the numbers of houses that have government tap connections are not as high.
