Much to their dismay and surprise, this tourism season has kicked off with hordes of squatters comprising mainly of domestic tourists who prefer to wine and dine in their vehicles parked near Colva beach and bathe in front of the beach. The same is the scenario across the entire Salcete coastal belt.
Tourism stakeholders, locals and regular visitors are aghast at this problem and are not sure how to deal with. Calls to the Colva police see these tourists being checked if they are violating any laws but other than dispersing them at night, the police too are helpless
“The area in front of the beach and as you enter is a filthy mess,” said Ernesto Fernandes who lives a few kilometers from the beach. Locals point out that the complaints regarding waste dumped on the shore gets tackled quickly by the beach cleaning agencies contracted by the tourism department but that the problem lies with these kind of tourists who are leaving behind a big mess at the beaches.
“They will come in big groups and they will cook near the tempos or mini buses on the side of the road. The kids will have a bath there itself while the males have a bath in their undergarments near public taps. They will cook and eat in the vans and I don’t want to know what they do when they have to go to the toilet,” added a Betalbatim resident who is in the tourism business.
Shack owners have said that this sullies the image of the beach as female foreign tourists get stared at by these men wearing skin coloured shorts roaming on the beach in groups. Shack owners added that this creates a bad impression about Goa and that many of these men sit in their vehicles blasting music right on the beach and make it uncomfortable for those visiting the beach.
Some tourist operators in the state have said that for the first time they have omitted Colva from the South Goa tour because of these kinds of problems. Tourism department officials have already stated that police have been kept to monitor the movement of these domestic tourists on the beach and prevent them from carrying alcohol in glass bottles and to act on any complaint received from foreigners.
While locals have suggested that these tourists should not be allowed to park their vehicles near the beach overnight and to take action against those who sleep on the beach through the night instead of booking a hotel or guest house. Tourism department officials feel that the use of CCTV cameras will help the authorities take action in the future. Some unconfirmed sources have also mentioned that there have been many instances of public defecation which contributes to
“Goa needs high quality tourists and we stand to gain nothing with these men that come from neighbouring states just to ogle at our women and foreigners and don’t contribute to the local income as the vehicles and supplies they hire are from their home state itself,” said Steven Vaz, a hotelier.
