MARGAO
Death of a tourist from Jaipur has sparked outrage amongst angry Colva residents, who demanded the resignation of the Tourism director if the department cannot look after the upkeep and the maintenance of the infrastructure at the world famous beach.
The locals appeared a worried lot over the demise of the tourist, fearing that such negative incidents can bring the world famous beach in bad light and tarnish the image of Colva.
Saying that the ground reality at Colva beach and the beautified place remains unchanged even after the visit of Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte, they demanded the intervention of the Chief Minister to put things in order at Colva.
A local resident, Joe Francis, an electrical engineer by profession, blamed the Tourism Department for the failure to look after the upkeep and maintenance of the Colva beach. “The beautified area at the beach has a three-phase connection. I fail to understand why the current is not put off when hordes of children are playing around the area,” he said, wondering whether the development the Tourism Department has put in place at Colva is for the benefit of the local people.
A tourist taxi operator D’Souza demanded the resignation of the Tourism director if he cannot handle the maintenance of the ornamental lamps and the children’s play items. “Just imagine when a tourist has died due to electrocution just because he came up from the beach and tried to get over the concrete wall. This should not happen,” he said.
Demanding compensation for the family of the deceased, D’Souza has feared that a wrong signal may go to tourists that it is not safe to visit Goa. “We have to protect the visitors and ensure their safety at the beach. See the state of the garden and children’s park. Wild plants are growing at the park for want of maintenance. There may be even reptiles taking shelter at the park,” he claimed.
Inspection reveals illumination works was not handed over to Tourism dept
MARGAO: An inspection by Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas of the lamp posts that proved fatal for the Jaipur tourist at Colva has revealed that the Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) has not handed over the illumination works at the beach to the Tourism Department.
In fact, the MLA has demanded that the GTDC or the government should immediately compensate the family of the deceased and take preventive steps to avert such incidents from occurring in the future.
“Such incidents do not augur well for tourism,” Venzy said, while demanding a probe into the episode and immediate disbursement of compensation for the family of the deceased.
