MARGAO
Even as the authorities have invoked Section 144 of the CrPC with a host of religious festivals lining up later this week, bureaucrats seemed to have no clue how to address the issue of large assembly of visitors on the beach belt with Covid once again raising its ugly head in the State.
A visit to the world famous Colva beach laid bare the absence of any restrictions nor any authority enforcing even the basic Covid norms, such as social distancing and wearing of face masks.
Migrant vendors had a field day on the beach, as they tried to woo the visitors with handicraft items and tattoo paintings, throwing social distancing norms to the winds.
That the iconic beach played host to a hundreds, if not thousands of visitors, on Sunday, is a testimony that visitors from other States continue to descend on the beach front with the State still not making Covid negative certificates mandatory for the tourists.
What’s interesting to note is that neither the district authorities nor the police were around the beach belt to spread awareness amongst the visitors to wear the face masks and to challan the violators. While the Fatorda police went on a spree to challan citizens found not wearing masks, the men-in-uniform were conspicuous by their absence at the Colva beach on Sunday, to spread awareness, leave alone to challan the violators.
Comparatively, local visitors were mostly found complying with the Covid safety norms, including wearing face masks.
