Disquieting because there was luke warm response to this judgment despite the fact the coastal villagers are forced time an again to prevent such blockades by Hotels! Disquieting because the citizens of Panjim did not take up the case nor congratulated the one who did. While they hugged trees that faced the axe they have not yet organized excursions through the opened access to the beach. They need to claim this access else the Hotel will continue holding the beach as Private. People will forget this access route which was denied them for 2 decades. The Court has not fined the Hotel nor thought of the rights denied to citizens.
Residents of coastal areas need to buy single shares of the Hotels and attend the shareholders meetings where they can directly question the Management on whether they adhere to the rules and regulations pertaining to the environment etc. These hotels are multinationals and have resorts in the Gulf as well. People there can question the Management whether they violate the local laws as did the Marriot at Miramar. Lack of monitoring gives rise to such careless behavior.
All Multinationals are accredited to various standards like ISO etc. which require the Management to follow the local laws on environment etc. The locals know the ground reality and can take up the same at the meetings. Further, they can demand the Hotels become members of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.
The GSTC has laid down criteria which is a result of a world wide effort to develop a common language about sustainability in tourism. The criteria are the minimum, not the maximum, which businesses, governments, and destinations should achieve to approach social, environmental, cultural, and economic sustainability.
They are organized around four main themes: effective sustainability planning, maximizing social and economic benefits for the local community enhancing cultural heritage, reducing negative impacts to the environment.
Since tourism destinations each have their own culture, environment, customs, and laws, this criteria is designed to be adapted to local conditions and supplemented by additional criteria for the specific location and activity.
