The Goa Legislative Assembly last week passed the Goa Tourist Places (Protection And Maintenance) (Amendment) Bill, 2025, a bill which expands the scope of what is considered a ‘nuisance’ at a tourist place within the state and lists out penalties that violators will have to face should they end up being a nuisance. These activities now range from hawking, touting, coercing tourists to buy wares, littering, cooking (in tourist places), and other items included in the list as being a nuisance.
The passing of the bill came on the back of a discussion in the House, prompted by Calangute MLA Michael Lobo, who warned of the risks posed by allowing tourists to carry glass beer bottles on the beach, which they later break, leaving the pieces in the sand, which pose a threat to other beachgoers. The answer to Lobo’s concerns -- and those of other opposition MLAs who raised a similar issue -- Khaunte said, was the amended bill, which, after it becomes a law, would give the government the power to fine the violators.
But there’s one big, unanswered question. Who is going to enforce the law? Will it be the staff of the coastal police stations -- who are already understaffed and stretched to the point they do not even respond quickly enough to cases of violence, which then escalates to assaults and even murders that happened at a beach shack in Goa last year?
Will it be men from the IRBn, sometimes deployed along the beaches, who will be enforcing this law, or will there be other ‘forces’, be it the pink force, the home guards and others. Who will be given this task? Will it be the staff of the tourism department, including inspectors or other staff?
With the passage of this bill, the tourism department has given itself powers to deal with situations involving public order -- generally left to the police. But as we’ve seen in the past, this has led to friction between the tourism minister and the police. The tourism minister would keep insisting that tackling touts was the job of the police, while the police would be of the view that they do not act unless a complaint is received. This leaves a gaping hole that needs to be urgently addressed if the newly amended law is going to have any teeth and make any difference beyond the existing set of laws.
It is a well-known fact that complaints about littering, drinking on the beach, etc, are few and far between. Even if other tourists notice a group indulging in such nuisance behaviour, very few will come forward to report it. And even if they want to report it, approaching the police is not as easy as the police make it sound. There’s no outpost located at the beach, patrolling policemen are not easily spotted, and the threat of the violators getting violent is all too real.
For the law to be effective, it will need proactive policing either by the police themselves, the home guards or any other force that is empowered to enforce the law. Goa needs a force specifically designated for such minor offences, be it littering, no smoking or spitting, drinking on the beach, parking violations, sound violations and the like. Expecting the police to do it would dilute their real job, which is tackling crime. It is high time the government makes provisions for not just declaring something unlawful but also putting in place a mechanism for enforcement.
