team herald
PANJIM: Goa was subjected to a new ‘dry day’ on January 26 as the Western Zone bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the Goa government to limit the sale of liquor on the concluding day of the four-day wine and lifestyle festival, Grape Escapade.
By afternoon, news of the unavailability of wine at the wine festival had made it to the social media and many Goans took turns to express their angst against the decision (Read box).
At the venue, Goans and tourists who wanted to make the most of the public holiday by savouring a wide variety of wines at the wine festival were disappointed as the wine companies participating in the festival had emptied their stalls by afternoon. While some wine stalls were then seen selling things like coconut oil, spices and other food items, other empty stalls served as comfortable dining tables or seating options for the aching feet at the festival.
Alfred Mascarenhas, one of the visitors from Mapusa who had come to attend the festival with his family on Monday, said, “We got to know about the unavailability of wines at the festival, in the afternoon. However, rumours that the decision to stop the sale of alcohol had been reversed were doing the rounds too. We wanted to take our chances. Unfortunately, the latter turned out to be false. It is disappointing.”
Another individual who seemed to be disappointed with the last minute change, Crispino Fernandes from Kumbharjua, said, “If it is a dry day, then it is stupid on the part of GTDC to have this event coincide with Republic Day. If not, then the organisers should have fought against the decision to stop the sale of wines.”
Although other highlights of the festival like the musical programmes and food stalls were unaffected, the drop in the attendance was visible.
