For decades people from in and around Velim have been regular visitors to our village, so much so that they were treated like our very own. They were well behaved, well-mannered and above all, respected our ecology and our environment. They never made a nuisance of themselves nor did they leave behind a mess of garbage and broken bottles.
Today, any sane visitor to Nuem should feel ashamed of being a Goan, as the mass of garbage, plastic and bottles (both broken or otherwise) left behind by our very own Goan picnickers are tangible reminders that we do lack an admirable sense of decorum or the capacity to articulate on our civility and our civic sense of being good citizens of the State.
It is indeed a fact that Goa is littered by our very own Goans, not sparing our beaches, roadsides and even villages, while we Goans at large keep on lamenting about the absence of a good garbage handling system by our Authorities. Goa’s garbage problem is certainly widespread and tangible but who is to be blamed for it? We proudly tell the world that Goa is a fully literate state even then would it be subversive to suggest that we Goans at large do lack a basic civic sense?
If this alone wasn’t enough, we have to encounter another evil. Of late, the newer generation of “brand” hooligans with all their fast cars and fast money come to Nuem and not only leave behind garbage, plastic and broken glass bottles in large quantities but also show scant respect for the locals, the environment and the ecology, polluting the natural fresh water spring, playing loud music. Even when they’re requested to switch off the music between 2:00 to 4:00 PM, some do not, as a result of which sometimes we do tend to have law and order situations, as arguments and fights break out between the picnickers and the locals, like it happened on 14th April. When people of Nuem, Khola woke up that morning, little did they know that it would be a day of upheaval, as police were forced to intervene to keep peace between the picnickers and the locals.
Music amplified well beyond a point becomes a distortion and even causes headaches, migraines and also affects people with heart problems. Like all villages, we too have our elders, sick and the young ones and most of us too love to have some peace and tranquility in the afternoons at least for a couple of hours. These hooligans epitomize a near-extinct regard for any civility or civic sense. Some of them don’t even seem to understand the difference between an open beach and a seaside residential area. The villagers of Nuem, for long have borne the unwarranted antics of our Goan picnickers just because they are Goans. Nowhere in the official map of Goa does it show Nuem as a public beach or a picnic destination so it’s time to say thanks but no thanks, you are not welcome nor are you invited to our village, you can take and park your buses and vehicles elsewhere. We don’t take kindly to people, especially hooligans who come to our village and enjoy themselves but then have the audacity to disturb our peace and tranquility and threaten us physically.
