PANAJI
Announcing a major tourism push in the rural Dharbandora taluka, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Friday said that the fortunes of the backward region, especially in the employment sector, would drastically change if a mere 10 lakh tourists were lured to visit the area.
"If 80 lakh visit the beach areas, then 10 lakh should visit the rural areas of Goa, we should create infrastructure for them. I am only talking about 10 lakh. If they visit rural areas, then the employment situation will be addressed. Tourism development has the capability to resolve the employment issue. We have to consider sustainable development, for development of the people and to make Goa self-dependent," Sawant told a function in Mollem village, located in the Dharbandora taluka.
Before the advent of the pandemic, nearly 8 million tourists visited the state annually, according to state tourism ministry records.
Dharbandora taluka was culled out of the extended Sanguem taluka in 2011.
"Until now, tourists visit beaches and temples. They have to be made to come to see our forests. We have plans to develop the Dudhsagar waterfall as well as the Tambdi Surla temple over the next five years," Sawant said.
The Chief Minister also said that the Dharbandora area had not seen a semblance of development, especially on the tourism front, despite being home to the first railway station in the state at Collem.
"Goa's first railway station was in Collem, but it could not be tapped fully for touristic purposes. Why has this not happened? There was no infrastructure created to attract tourism. In the next five years, Dharbandora will be known as a developed taluka," Sawant said.
The Collem railway station was built in the colonial era and served as a key cog along the colonial boundaries of the Portuguese and British holdings in the region.
