An uneasy calm descends on the tranquil beaches of Anjuna and Vagator these days. The beaches, which hitherto were buzzing with activities night and day, have all of a sudden gone eerily quiet.
What may surprise locals and tourists alike is the fact that even though there are a sizeable number of tourists here, these days one cannot find any stalls open, no hawkers loitering around and even no lamanis in sight. Perhaps the reason being the police crackdown on drug trade in the entire state, after the death of two tourists due to drug overdose at a night club.
While the police are cracking down on the nightclubs, locals are surprised why most of the stalls run by the North India Merchants are shut down.
“For long we have been saying that not only the shacks or nightclubs, the North India Merchants and migrant tea, ice cream sellers are also involved in the illicit trade of drugs,” says a local refusing to be named.
Many residents Herald spoke to say that these North India Merchants are ready to pay Goans any amount to get restaurants and shops on lease.
“We wonder how they can pay so much lease amount which is very difficult to recover. The end result is most of the locals have given their properties on lease to these non-Goans,” said Sandesh Palyekar.
“I find it difficult to do a turnover of Rs 2 lakhs a month, but the non-Goans or North India Merchants are ready to pay me Rs 3 lakhs rent,” another restaurateur adds.
Besides North India Merchants, locals say there migrants from Karnataka and the lamanis, who bring in dry grass on buses.
“Concentrating only on nightclubs and shacks won’t help. Yes, there are nightclubs and shacks involved in this business but the small businesses run by migrants also need to be probed,” said Camilo D’Souza.
Ketamine freely available
Media and authorities say the tourists die of drug overdose but locals here feel nothing much is done to curb it.
They say drug like Ketamine is freely available in the medical stores without prescription.
“In 2010 the government put a ban on sale of ketamine without prescription but that remains only on paper as sale continues over the counter,” alleges Domnic Fernandes.
Low budget tourists
Another local Siddesh Naik feels that what Anjuna, Vagator is getting is low budget tourists from South India who are looking for drugs.
“These tourists use low quality drugs mix ketamine, which is cheap, with Crocin for a kick which has a totally different effect,” says Denny Ferrao.
Minister speaks
WRD Minister Vinod Palyekar, who happens to be the MLA of Siolim, says no one will be spared.
“The trend of drugs is there for decades here and I am honestly doing my best to get rid of this and people must understand it isn’t that easy,” Palyekar tells Herald.
He says be it local or the migrants or North India Merchants the police will crack down on them.
“I have issued instructions to SP North and they are doing a fair job,” he said.
