PANJIM: Tourists, who have hitherto thrown all caution to the wind, will now be penalised for creating nuisance as the State government has notified the Goa Tourist Places (Protection and Maintenance) (Amendment) Act, 2019.
As per the amendment, Section 9 A that has been introduced to the Act prohibits certain activities in tourist places like consumption of liquor in open places, cooking food in the open, littering waste including used material, empty bottles, etc; breaking of glass bottles and other activity as may be specified by the government, by notification in the Official Gazette.
“Any person violating the provisions shall be liable to pay a fine of Rs 2,000 to the competent authority or any other officer authorised by it in this behalf. Where such violation is committed by more than one person in a group, such group shall be liable to pay a fine of Rs 10,000. No person engaged in business of sale of liquor shall allow its customer to carry
bottles/cans containing liquor in tourist places,” the gazette states.
The Goa Legislative Assembly on January 31 had passed the Bill seeking to impose the ban in order to protect and preserve the tourism potential of the tourist places in the State and to keep such places clean and free from nuisance.
The government has also notified an amendment to the Goa Registration of Tourist Trade Act, 2019, making it mandatory for hotels or other tourism business establishments to register with Tourism Department if it wants to provide its services online. As per the amendment, no person will now be allowed to carry on the business of providing services of online booking of hotel rooms, other accommodation or any other tourist related activity in the tourist areas unless registered in accordance with the provisions of the said Act.
Amendments to the Goa Public Health Act to improve cleanliness and make the State open defecation free, clean and sanitised, Goa Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Amendment) Bill, 2019 ; The Goa Value Added Tax (Eleventh Amendment) Bill, 2019; and The Goa Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2019; have also been notified by the government.
