KATHY PEREIRA
CANACONA
While tourism is hard hit due to the down turn in tourist arrivals this season, stakeholders dependent on tourism fear for their livelihood as a hidden risk is threatening their already poor business– fake currency notes which are in circulation in coastal Canacona, over the past few months.
Duplicate/fake currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations are reportedly changing hands, largely among stakeholders engaged in tourism activities along the taluka’s coastal areas, a source disclosed.
The source added that one of several pigmy collectors involved in daily collections along the municipal seashore has come across fake currency notes at regular intervals.
“On learning about the circulation of fake notes, people engaged in tourism trade are learnt to have been extra vigilant since December 2014, while accepting cash payments,” the source told Herald.
A pigmy collector, who asked not to disclose his identity said, he too had learnt that some pigmy collectors had found fake notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denominations, when they had gone to deposit the cash at their banks the following morning.
“But there has been no specific complaint regarding specific incidents of fake notes deposited in the banks during this period, due to various legal hassles involved,” said the pigmy collector.
“This gives rise to the fear that some people are cleverly and slowly introducing large number of fake notes in the market, due to reluctance to lodge police complaints,” the pigmy collector added.
Another source told Herald that people had suspected that some fake notes were allegedly being circulated by some lamani hawkers engaged in different trades along the Canacona municipal coast. However, this allegation could not be confirmed.
When contacted, Canacona Police Inspector Gurudas Kadam insisted that there had neither been any specific complaint regarding circulation of fake notes along Canacona’s coast, nor had it been brought to his notice that such a problem existed.
He was then reminded that a nationalized bank had lodged a complaint with the Canacona police over the deposit of some fake notes in their Canacona branch, which later had come to light in its treasury branch at Margao.
“But that incident was reported before the beginning of this tourism season,” PI Kadam clarified.
