MARGAO
The next time you come across an elderly man on the job at the Colva beach square area, cleaning up the dry waste and filth, don’t be surprised that the man has been working on his own accord.
Neither the Tourism Department nor the Panchayat has engaged the man, a native of Mumbai, to clean up the beach square. But, he has been doing the work on his own just to keep the place at the world-famous beach clean and free from litter.
A singer from Mumbai, Ismail Ahmed Sheikh had landed at Colva around two months ago and has been involved in keeping the beach square clean.
“I sing songs on the beach and do mimicry at the beach to earn a living. People give me tea and snacks and sometimes money whenever I clean up the beach square”, he said.
Taking cognizance of the work put in by Ismail, a Colva resident Thomas Rodrigues, said he felt pity for the elderly man as has taken up the responsibility to keep the beach square clean. “The beach square area is the bone of contention between the tourism department and the local panchayat authorities over the cleanliness aspect. I was touched by the initiative of this elderly man from Mumbai to keep the square clean”, Thomas said.
Since the man was not being compensated for the work put in by him at the beach square, Thomas has requested the local Benaulim MLA Churchill Alemao to lend a helping hand to the man on compassionate grounds.
“I have proposed to the MLA to compensate the man by paying Rs 5,000 per month. Even my friends and I will contribute funds just to compensate him for the good work rendered by him on the beach square”, Thomas said.
He took a dig at the government authorities for making their big presence at the Colva beach square during the inauguration of the toilet blocks and changing rooms but has since then not seen anywhere around at the beach square.
