The DGP recently met with members of the hospitality industry and
urged them to take the help of the authorities to deal with any problems
involving tourists, specifically domestic tourists. He said there had been
instances of tourists being beaten up, harassed or cheated on the tourist belt
of Calangute. DGP Jaspal Singh also pointed out that tourists were beaten up by
bouncers and some were seriously injured. He requested them to fall back on the
expertise of the police and call them and not resort to any action initiated by
them. Reaction from the industry was interesting and varied.
Padma Nair, who owns a small hotel on the
belt, has said it was a welcome move by the authorities and everyone in his
circle, all of whom were from the industry, welcomed the statement. He said “It
usually done by the local SP but this is the DGP which adds a lot of weight. I
am sure everyone will follow the instructions. No one wants to fall afoul of
the law.”
Shekhar who runs a resort on the belt said they were handling
domestic tourists and they had a bar and restaurant as well as a pool in the
facility. He said “If a situation develops, we usually talk and come to an
agreement. Otherwise we call the police. We are very careful; we could be
blamed by the wife of a guest. The fact there are lady cops present helps a
lot. Sometimes our arguments may not go down well with the guests and then the
cops are of great help.” He said it was always tough dealing with domestic
tourists if they had alcohol in the system or had a bad day at the casino. It
was not unusual for them to add chlorine to the water in the pool at night.
This however would not prove to be a dampener for the tourists. He said they
would jump in and refuse to listen to the appeals made by the hotel staff. Then
there was the issue of ordering beer at one o clock at night. Shekhar said it
was important not to have an ego in this line of work because it would not be
of any help.
Another hotelier who did not want to come on record due to his
views on the subject said the police system was weak. He said there were
instances of a Russian tourist beating up a waiter and a group of people coming
into a restaurant, eating, not paying the bill and thrashing the staff. He said
no one should take the law into their own hands and it would be nice to have
the backing of the police if such situations arose. He however said the two
skinny cops on the bike would never be able to handle the assailants who would
be double their size. He said “We need policemen who have the skills to tackle
such situations. They should have mastery over karate and should come in five
minutes.”
Nilesh Shah, President of TTAG said it was difficult to comment
because he was not from that industry. He said “The police need to act swiftly.
I feel night time policing is lacking in Goa. It is difficult to comment on
such situations that occur. There is the tourist police but if they get rough
with the tourists then it defeats the very purpose of having such a force. They
need to be sensitised. Tourists are being harassed and that has to stop. It is
difficult to comment on how it will work.”
One
can only hope the tourists coming to Goa behave soberly and the staff in various
restaurants and bars behave in a calm and collected manner.
