The Sarpanch of Chicolna- Bogmalo Panchayat, Laxman Kavlekar has requested the state tourism department to issue an order imposing a ban on the use of glass bottles on Bogmalo beach. The demand is made in order to curb littering and the possibility of people getting hurt on the beach.
According to information, Bogmalo beach is visited by over 800 people -both, tourists and locals every day. Besides, many locals come to the beach for morning and evening walks. However, since the last few months, the presence of broken glass on the beach poses as a high risk to visitors. Many have complained about receiving injuries while walking on the beach. “I go to the beach regularly but now I think twice about going on the beach after I sustained injuries while playing there,” said Pramod Amonkar, a resident of Shantinagar.
Like Amonkar, even foreign tourists have complained of similar injuries while at the beach. “It’s scary to walk on the beach without footwear. Such things have never happened before. But now we can see broken pieces of glass everywhere and hence, I have stopped bringing my children to the beach for fear of them getting injured,” said Ira Eliseeva, a Russian national currently residing in Bogmalo.
The issue is becoming serious and for the Bogmalo Panchayat it is getting worrisome. The village Sarpanch has therefore decided to knock at the doors of the tourism department demanding a total ban on the use of glass bottles on the beach. “Whom to blame? This is the only beach for the people from Mormugao Taluka. Besides, the beach attracts domestic and foreign tourists. But what gets me worried is the fact that miscreants purposely break bottles on the beach and these in turn injure people walking barefoot. So far, seven people have been injured,” said Chicolna-Bogmalo Sarpanch, Laxman Kavlekar.
According to him, the state tourism department has given the beach cleaning contract to a party who is working efficiently. However, many times, broken glass pieces are unintentionally overlooked and thus the only solution left is to ban the use of glass bottles on the beach.
“Once the ban is imposed, the Panchayat, along with the police will then make sure that no one will be allowed to take glass bottles on the beach and those who violate the ban will be fined” he informed.
Aside from the broken glass issue at Bogmalo, there is also the high mask issue. “I have no clue whether the tourism department will give us the authority to impose a total ban on the use of glass bottles on the beach or whether this issue will also bite the dusk like the request for high mask has,” Kavlekar went on
to say.
