After having missed a number of deadlines, the ambitious Rs 1.7 crore Calangute
Beach Promenade was finally inaugurated in February, as a landmark project to give
Calangute Beach the much-needed facelift to attract tourists to the site.
Attracted it has, but the wrong kinds of tourists and for the wrong reasons.
Utter disregard by hordes of tourists has left the Calangute Beach Promenade in a sorry state.
Besides spitting all over the promenade, tourists have littered the place with broken glass bottles.
Despite assurances from the State government, the Calangute Beach Promenade has not
received the maintenance that it deserved, leaving many to wonder whether the project has
made any difference to the Calangute beach.
“When the State government threw open the Calangute Beach Promenade to the public and
tourists, we were very happy with the project as we felt it was a change in terms of cleanliness,”
said Crystal D’Souza.
“We were proud of the infrastructure at Calangute Beach, but the story is quite different now.
Within a couple of months, the area all along the Calangute Beach Promenade looks untidy and
it has not been maintained by the authorities,” said D’Souza.
“We see glass bottles, some even broken, all over the place and tourists brazenly spitting
on the Calangute Beach Promenade. Should the State government have spent so much money,
when the facility it is being misused by tourists,” asked D’Souza.
Another resident, Gajanan Kerkar, felt that security guards need to be deployed at the
Calangute Beach Promenade. “To maintain cleanliness at the Calangute Beach Promenade, it is
necessary to employ security guards to stop tobacco-chewing tourists from spitting all along the
beautiful Promenade.The security guards can also keep a check on tourists either drinking on
the Beach Promenade or carrying glass bottles on the beach. Sign boards forbidding chewing
or drinking on beaches should be displayed to warn the habitual domestic tourists. There is no
point in having world-class facilities if they cannot be maintained,” remarked Kerkar.
Admitting the sorry state of affairs of the Calangute Beach Promenade, Calangute MLA
Michael Lobo said the tourism department has failed to maintain the Calangute Beach
Promenade.
“The cleanliness of the promenade could
have been entrusted to an agency, while the
Tourist Police or IRB Police could have taken care
of the unruly tourists, who either drink or litter the
beach,” said Lobo.
“Tourists should not be allowed to carry glass bottles or to drink liquor on the Calangute
Beach Promenade. The Tourist or IRB Police should be given strict instructions to penalize those
found drinking or creating a nuisance on the Beach Promenade. Liquor sold in wholesale or retail
shops is not to be carried on the beach or to drink on the Calangute Beach Promenade,” he said.
“For a thorough implementation of rules and regulations on the beach, a display board with
“Dos and Don’ts” should be prominently displayed with warnings. A minimum fine of Rs 1,000
should be levied on those misusing the infrastructure. If the tourists can follow the set guidelines
visiting beaches in other parts of the world, why not in Calangute? We should be firm and
implement certain things and only then everything will fall in place,” added Lobo.
