MARGAO: Despite there being glaring evidence available that the tour operator company had followed all the protocols in place and had informed the Mormugao Police Inspector in advance about the arrangements, both the Mormugao Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) and South Goa SP Abhisek Dhania have tried to place the blame on the incident on the excursion agents of the cruise operators.
The Mormugao DySP in his media statement on Thursday, cast aspersions on the role of the tour operator.
But the SP termed it as miscommunication between the tour operators, bus operators and taxi drivers.
However, neither of the two failed to comment on how the taxi drivers who are not authorised to stop buses were muscle flexing and stopping tourists buses.
Besides a meeting with stakeholders that was held by the SP on Thursday evening, no action has been taken by the police against the taxi drivers.
Nonetheless, the SP gave an assurance that harassment of tourists will not be tolerated in the State and announced a series of measures put in place to streamline processes at the cruise terminal.
Earlier in the day, the Mormugao DySP claimed that the tour operators had not made proper or prior arrangements for the 80 passengers on the cruise ship. He added that there were other cruise ships too, wherein the movement of tourists in that case went smoothly.
He added that henceforth the MPA cruise manager would call for a meeting with the local administration as well as the police where information about the arrival of cruises, passengers who will be travelling Goa, their arrangements would be discussed.
“We will also be giving a number where the tourists can make a distress call, which will be addressed by a police official not below the rank of PSI. The PSI or the PI will attend to the matter immediately and take it to the logical conclusion,” the SP added.
