Thousands throng Goa to ring in New Year 2012

TEAM HERALD

teamherald@herald-goa.com

PANJIM: Thousands thronged the state to usher in the New Year celebrations causing huge traffic jams everywhere.

Goa, of late has become the favourite tourist destination during the New Year time especially due to the beach parties.

Besides lakhs of domestic and foreign tourists there were several celebrities too who descended in Goa for the New Year celebrations.

However, the only inconvenience was the traffic choc-a-block all around.

Says Ralph D’Souza, former TTAG president, “there are more tourists than Goa can actually handle.”

He said that the exorbitant airfares and good connectivity by road has actually made things worse.

“Tourist from neighouring states Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Kerala have preferred to bring in their own vehicle which has resulted in thousands of more cars on Goan streets,” he said.

Ralph said that the response is very good and the occupancy in all hotels is 100 per cent but Goa still lacks the infrastructure to handle such a condition.

“The revenue to clubs, restaurant, hotels etc is huge but we need to keep this in mind and prepare ourselves better the next time so that there is no inconvenience to the general public,” he said.

Sources in the Tourism Department said that the number of tourist presence could run into lakhs and the exact figure would be available only in few days to come.

It is pertinent to note here the Goa Police had drawn up a traffic plan for the New Year about a fortnight ago but their plan seems to have gone haywire as they never expected such huge number of vehicles.

Security personnel were seen all over with arms but they simply were outnumbered by the tourist presence.

Herald spoke to a few tourists for the reason to be in Goa rather than their home state and the replies were simple, “Goa is the best party place in India and what better way to welcome the New Year rather than this.”

Meanwhile, Churches spread across Goa offer special New Year midnight masses ushering in the New Year, which are invariably followed by formal balls and dances.