MARGAO
The District Collector’s action has come in the wake of multiple drowning incidents in South Goa, posing a persistent threat to human life and challenge to public safety enforcement.
Despite the District Police's efforts to caution the public and display warning signage, the Collector stated these locations continue to be frequented unsafely and that many of them pose significant threats due to unpredictable water depths, slippery and unstable terrain and sudden currents and underflows, etc.
The Collector’s order was guided by the recommendation made by the Superintendent of Police, South Tikam Singh to invoke Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and the issuance of a prohibitory order banning all forms of swimming, bathing or entering into any natural water bodies such as waterfalls, abandoned quarries, rivers and lakes within South Goa District, until further notice.
“Such legal backing is essential to empower the local Police and Administrative machinery to enforce restrictions effectively and to ensure compliance through appropriate legal action against violators and that during the validity period the situation was under control and no any untoward incident was reported”, the order stated.
