MARGAO
A week after the Arpora fire tragedy that claimed 25 lives, teams of officials have fanned out across Goa’s beach belt to inspect pubs and restaurants for fire safety and other violations.
However, at the iconic Colva beach on Sunday, officials from the police, tourism or veterinary departments were noticeably absent. Illegal hawking continued openly, while stray dogs and cattle roamed freely across the beach.
As thousands of visitors thronged the popular beach, stray animals were seen in large numbers. At the same time, illegal hawkers”despite a government ban on beach hawking across the State”were active along the shoreline.
This situation has raised questions about whether government departments are ill-equipped to tackle illegal hawking and the growing number of strays, or whether a lack of political will has allowed the problem to persist.
Despite repeated assurances by successive tourism ministers, illegal hawking has not reduced at Colva beach or other coastal stretches.
Recently, a sarpanch from a Salcete coastal village alleged that a BJP MLA had attempted to obstruct a drive against migrant hawkers on the beach.
