Calangute: Tourists who are presently in the State enjoying their holidays on the coastal belt of North Goa have been found to be moving around without face masks.
Presently, there are thousands of Indian tourists in Goa who are enjoying their vacations but they are doing so without wearing masks or maintaining social distancing. This has upset locals who not only worry that the tourists, some of whom are coming from COVID hotspots are coming in close proximity to the local population.
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There is also a worry that the tourists could be super spreaders as there is no system in place to check their health status, to know if they have or don’t have COVID. The recent crowds outside the Casinos in Panjim or outside the Panjim Church square are examples of this situation and how it is troubling locals.
While the government has increased the fine from Rs 100 to Rs 200 if people are found without face masks, a visit to the popular beaches in the North like Calangute etc shows you that tourists are not paying heed to this.
Given the sheer number of tourists at these beaches, locals question the statements of the Chief Minister and others like the Calangute MLA who have implied that increasing the fines is an adequate deterrent to ensure that tourists do wear masks. The govte has also played down calls from locals to enhance measures such as COVID testing at the borders, railways and airport and have only agreed to do thermal scanning.
When Herald tried to ask the authorities why they are not imposing fines given that it is clear so many tourists are violating the rules, they shift the blame saying they are not empowered to fine and that it is the duty of certain ‘officials only’.
When some police staff deployed on the beaches were asked why they weren’t taking action, they said they can only tell the violators to use face masks but cannot fine them as they do not have the authority to do so. “There are officers who visit the beach and fine the violators. We tell people to use masks but after sometime, they again remove the masks,” said police staff.
There are also no boards displayed warning tourists about the existing rules.
