CANACONA: A complaint to the Cuncolim Police Station didn’t yield any result as a bus load of tourists from Karnataka cooked, ate breakfast and left the trash behind at Karmalghat, on Saturday.
The complaint that domestic tourists are cooking on the roadside at Karmalghat was made to Cuncolim Police Station at 7.55 am on Saturday.
Neither the Police nor the Highway Patrol which is supposed to patrol the highway reached the spot till they cooked, ate and disappeared leaving all types of trash around.
With Goa Legislative Assembly passing amendments to the Goa Tourist Places (Protection and Maintenance) Act, 2001, that prohibit drinking alcohol, cooking and littering in public places, the Goans felt that this type of nuisance will cease or at least decrease.
But with the law enforcement agencies developing cold feet when it comes to implementation of this law the entire NH66 road passing through the Karmalghat forest has been littered and has become an eyesore.
The local residents say that this type of incidents happen on a regular basis with the tourist buses, halting by the streams, taking bath, washing clothes and defecating thereby polluting the environment.
The Highway Patrol and a Police Control Room (PCR) van which is always seen on the highway near where this type of violations take place keep their eyes shut, complained the locals.
A resident staying close blamed the staff of PCR van and Highway Patrol for just taking rounds and not taking their role seriously thereby causing pollution in the clean and green environment.
B Velip, a local, said that they cooked for a bus load of tourists from 7.30 am and left the place by throwing all type of waste and empty liquor bottles by 9.30 am.
Even though the Cuncolim Police was informed at 7.55 am, they reached the spot only after 9.30 am. We have got used to this habit and lethargy of police officials, lamented a few elderly persons from the area.
