Mumbai was a fortress ahead of Christmas Day and will continue to be one on New Year's Eve. In view of the Coronavirus scare, the metro will have around 35,000 police personnel keeping watch over law and order situations, to ensure people abide by the night curfew till January 5.
Despite the grandeur of Christmas and New Year, this time the Mumbai administration has tightened protocol with the sole objective of securing lives. Authorities will crack the whip on all restaurants, pubs and recreational establishments that fail to down shutters at the stroke at 11 pm as per the prohibitory orders. A gathering of more than five persons is prohibited, and there is a ban on terrace-top celebrations and parties by the sea. The seriousness behind enforcing protocol is clear as daylight.
Cut into Goa, and despite the latest scare of a new Covid-19 strain found in the UK coupled with the looming threat coming from neighbouring hotspots, Goa erupted in wild celebrations with rave parties happening along the Calangute-Anjuna-Vagator coastline. Desi tourists ran amok at popular nightspots with the jamming up and dancing continuing till the wee hours of the next day.
This is hypocrisy at its very best because on one side we have Chief Minister Pramod Sawant sending out a video message greeting people on Christmas and appealing people to celebrate responsibly given the Covid conditions. We have Ports Minister and Calangute MLA Michael Lobo asking visitors to wear compulsory face masks and requesting people to avoid the traditional Christmas handshake and opt for the namaste instead. And there is a justification on why Sunburn was disallowed.
Against such a backdrop how does the government explain the party environment along the North Goa belt? How is it that these parties are well advertised with hoardings along the coastal belt beside the social media outreach? The long list of DJs and performers showcased mean that these are planned events. There are a series of rave parties on the cards on the eve of New Year. How are permissions granted for these parties, when on one side the government is preaching protocols and discipline?
The virus may have shown signs of easing off in Goa, but we need to be wary of the fact that the risks in States like Delhi, Maharashtra and Karnataka continue to be high. Authorities remain unmoved as tourists continue to crowd popular beaches like Colva, Benaulim, Miramar and Calangute in clear violation of protocols. The continued failure of law enforcing authorities indicates that our tourism priorities are over-riding everything else. Police are not in a position to crack the whip on rave parties because there are vested interests involved and the stakes high.
The people of Goa must be commended for warding off the Covid attack considerably, and there is a collective responsibility on the chief minister, local MLAs and the tourism minister along with the entire government machinery to secure the lives of the people of Goa. Do not use the series of drug raids that are happening daily as a distraction.
