Team Herald
MARGAO: The Tourism Department has lodged a complaint with the Colva Police regarding the illegal activities by hawkers urging them to maintain vigil and initiate strict action against the migrant vendors involved such illegalities.
According to the Tourism Department, Colva sarpanch Johnson Coelho had complained to the department against the illegal activities carried out on Colva beach by hawkers and migrant vendors. Coelho in the complaint mentioned about the migrants’ illegal involvement in other activities such as photography and tattoo designing.
Assistant Tourism Director Rodin J Mascarenhas filed a complaint with Colva Police requesting them to deploy the IRB police personnel (both male and female) on all the beach stretches in South Goa to maintain strict vigil on the illegal activities and nuisance caused by migrant vendors on Colva’s coastal belt.
Speaking to the media, former sarpanch Antonio Fernandes said, “Despite complaints by the villagers, no strict action has been taken by the police to curb this menace. A senior police officer informed that the IRB personnel have been deployed along the beach belt. We will ask our superiors to send additional IRB force. In addition, we have asked the Tourism Department to repair the defunct CCTV cameras across the South Goa coastline at the earliest.”
What’s more entrancing are the statements made by Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar that the lamanis and touts, mostly hailing from Karnataka should be banned from Goa because they tarnish the reputation of the State and create nuisance on the Goa’s beaches.
According to him, they don’t fit in the coastal State’s culture. But unfortunately, those blamed for causing the nuisance are still roaming freely on the beaches carrying out the illegalities.
