the goan I network
VALPOI
In a first, residents of Surla village nestled in the Western Ghats have said enough is enough and resolved to aggressively pursue shutting down liquor vending outlets operating there.
The villagers met on Sunday at the village temple and unanimously decided to demand immediate closure of all the liquor shops in their village which of late has faced unruly scenes created by visitors from across the Goa-Karnataka border after their binges.
A recent case of a villager being assaulted by drunk Karnataka tourists triggered the villagers to take collective action. According to one resident, Suryakanta Gaonkar, the liquor shop owners from the village have also supported the decision.
Gaonkar said a number of people from different parts of Karnataka make a beeline to the village and patronise these liquor outlets.
Youth from the village will meet their MLA Pratapsingh Rane and convey the decision to him, he said, adding that the state government will also be petitioned in this regard. Surla is located on the border between Goa and Karnataka, and is deemed as a ‘Matheran’ in Goa. It is part of the Thane-Dongli panchayat.
A woman from the village, Poonam Gaonkar, said the frolicking tourists from Karnataka on several occasions in the past have put women folk in humiliating and embarrassing situations.
