MARGAO: Benaulim MLA Caetano (Caitu) Silva has slammed Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar for allegedly spoiling the entire tourism scene of Colva and called for the latter to resign if he could not handle the work.
“If you can’t handle the tourism scene of Goa, then resign from the post and say you can’t (handle it). We will do the works with the panchayat,” said Silva.
Silva, the local MLA, had inspected Colva beach recently and expressed anguish at the sorry state of the beach.
While speaking to Herald, Caitu said, “The Tourism Minister is busy celebrating his birthday and ignoring an important tourism spot of South Goa. I have run from pillar to post to get the beach cleaning works of Colva done, but I was told by the director that there are no funds to execute the same.”
He further said, “The problem of the State Government is that they don’t want to do anything for Colva. If they claim there are no funds, how do they pass projects of crores of rupees for the interior villages of Goa, which are not even in the tourism priority list?”
“The garbage from Majorda is being brought to Colva and separated in the open. Are these people out of their minds to do these dirty works in a tourism spot?” added Silva.
Simran Malkarnekar, a visitor to Colva, said, “This place has been dirty for years now. To add to the woes, there is a filthy smell all over the beach. Colva is definitely on the losing end of tourism.”
Colva Beach, which was once the most visited beach, has now turned into the dirtiest beach in South Goa. The beach already lacks basic facilities, while the problems of Colva creek have worsened and the garbage menace is visible now.
