PANJIM: The residents of Dona Paula have requested the Department of Tourism to cancel the contract of leasing out the jetty to a private party and to make it accessible to the people for free.
In a letter to the Department of Tourism, the residents have stated that the contractor has blocked the entry to Dona Paula Jetty and was charging people visiting the jetty. They have stated that large number of tourists visiting the Dona Paula Jetty have to walk down for about one-and-half-km from the NIO Circle and many tourists who are senior citizens and sick are unable to do so as the government had failed to provide arrangements in spite of giving an undertaking to the High Court of Bombay at Goa that it will make necessary arrangements for the people at the earliest.
The residents said that blockade was causing chaos at the entrance of the narrow road due to which the residents in the vicinity are affected and the tourists taking advantage of the situation have diverted from the existing to the adjacent road thereby causing nuisance as well risk to the lives of the residents of the area.
Several youth visit the village, sit down on the parapet wall, drink and litter the area with bottles and cans whilst enjoying the scenic beauty of the river Zuari thereby disturbing the peace of the residents of the locality. The residents stated that the jetty has been leased out to private party, who is in the process of conducting food sundown soiree there.
The residents have pointed out that the High Court while hearing a writ petition had directed the State government and other concerned authorities to regulate the movement of tourist vehicles arriving at the Dona Paula Jetty so as to maintain peace and harmony in the vicinity until the government makes appropriate arrangements to resolve the congestion issue upon widening the road leading the jetty causing the bottleneck to a avoid congestion of the traffic threat.
When contacted, the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) ward councillor Nelson Cabral warned that the Dona Paula residents will file contempt petition against the State government and other authorities concerned for failing to adhere to the Court directives.
