Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant has asked traffic police on duty not to unnecessarily harass tourists as this sends the wrong signal worldwide. He has instructed traffic and security personnel on duty to be cordial while interacting with people. He didn’t stop with that, but went on to state that there will soon be a new policy, whereby outstation vehicles entering Goa will be checked at the border for all documentation, and if these are found to be in order, a sticker will be pasted on the vehicle which will be valid for the duration of the trip. This is meant to avoid tourist vehicles, or vehicles registered outside Goa, being stopped umpteen number of times on the Goan roads for document inspection.
This is a small measure that will go a long way in boosting the image of Goa appreciably. A cursory inspection of the social media will find a long list of complaints from tourists who have been stopped by traffic policemen while travelling in Goa. This ‘harassment’, however, is not restricted to vehicles registered outside the State, but also includes the self-driven cars and bikes that are rented out to tourists, and are easily recognisable by the colour of the registration plates. The government may also look into finding a manner of reducing the ‘harassment’ to these tourists, who also get stopped on the roads very often. The Goan image does not need to take a beating on this count.
This, however, is the first time that a government has admitted to the fact that tourists are being harassed by policemen. With the introduction of the new policy – whenever that happens – this harassment will be reduced to a certain extent. But, what about some action on policemen who have been harassing the tourists? If the Chief Minister admits that such a nuisance has been taking place, then there should also be some action on, or even a simple reprimand forthcoming, so that the officers realise that they have done something they should not have been doing. This would also send out the signal that the government is serious about cleaning up the State’s image so as to appear to be a tourist-friendly destination.
We are at the peak of the tourist season, the last few days of the year, the week between Christmas and New Year which brings the highest number of tourists to the State, for these two festivities and also for other events that are organised to take advantage of the tourist inflow during the high season. The traffic and security arrangements have to be taken seriously – one to avoid congestion on the roads, the other to ensure the safety of the people resident in the State and also holidaying here. Almost every year, around this time, Goa is placed high on the security alert because of the crowds that converge on the State to ring in the New Year. This year, despite the fewer number of tourists this far, the coastal areas are still expected to be teeming with tourists, which causes security concerns. Are there enough measures in place to keep the local population and the tourists safe?
Besides, the traffic flow on the highway from Panjim to Margao is yet to be streamlined. There are still traffic jams on the approach roads on either side of the Zuari bridge that the traffic personnel along the route are unable to handle. Congestion on this stretch is now a regular feature and there has been little change in the management of traffic. It will get worse this week, unless some urgent measures are taken.
While still on the subject of transport and traffic, the government has to look at the next issue of friendly taxi operators. While this administration has been stern with the taxi lobby in the State, there are still issues that remain pending. The number of cases of highhandedness by taxi operators has reduced considerably, it has not, however, stopped completely. Handling the taxi operators of course will not be easy, as they constitute a large vote bank and have political backing. However, this issue cannot remain without a solution. The app-based service may have helped people and tourists in Goa to find a reasonably economic means of taxi transport, but it is not enough. More needs to be done.
From friendly police if we can step to friendly taxi operators, Goa could actually turn out to become a very tourist friendly State in the coming months.
