TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: The arrest of a domestic tourist with drugs at the venue of an EDM festival and police admission of lack of manpower to check its use, and the tourism minister’s Dilip Parulekar tacit admission that drug use was a reality in the State came in for a sharp criticism from a cross section including from his own party.
The State BJP President Vinay Tendulkar is also not in consonance that drugs are an integral part of coastal tourism.
“This is not correct,” he told media when asked if he agreed that drugs were a part of tourism on the coastal belt. When asked about EDMs in specific he said: “There were conditions imposed while granting permissions.’ He also said that action should be taken against those breaking the law, given that the police were complaining about lack of manpower to take action against drug related offenses.
A letter to the Environment Minister Alina Saldanha and the chief minister from a Anjuna local Michael D’ Souza has expressed its regret over the callous manner in which the government has allowed Vagator to be given as a venue for the Sunburn EDM festival.
Alleging organizers had cut down trees and burnt grass to prepare the ground, he also alleged that the festival would create traffic hazards as well as a problem of garbage.
On security, NCP’s Nilkant Halarnkar and former tourism minister, pointed out that the tourism minister had said that all arrangements including that of security had been made asking, “so how are police lacking now?”
He was even more forthright saying that the minister was following the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s directions.
“The minister is following a positive direction for promoting drugs,” he said arguing that it was sad that the minister was admitting that drugs were an essential commodity.
It may be recalled that the tourism minister had admitted as reported in media that the police do not have enough manpower to control the increasing anti-social activities in the State and that “drugs are freely available all over the world and Goa is not an exception.” Also that “music revelers feel that musical parties like Sunburn cannot be enjoyed without consuming alcohol and drugs. We cannot stop them from enjoying.”
“I have travelled all over the world and seen that drugs are freely available and Goa cannot be an exception,” Parulekar was quoted as saying.
