Migrant hawkers invade the world famous Colva beach.
A woman visitor gets her wrist tattooed.
Hawkers waiting for prospective customers. Pics: Santosh Mirajkar
MARGAO: Even as Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar has promised to clean up the beach belt to get rid of the tar balls, he will have to soon grapple with the menace of migrant hawkers on the state’s popular beaches.
Despite repeated warnings by the Tourism Minster, the hawker menace has not subsided at least at the world famous Colva beach over the last two years. And, with the iconic beach being flooded by domestic tourists in recent days, the number of migrant hawkers on the beach has also increased in strength for want of action by the Tourism Department or Goa Police.
When The Goan called up the Tourism Minister on Monday to shed light on the hawkers’ menace on the beach belt, especially at the world famous beach, Ajgoankar was quick to issue a warning that the department will crack the whip on hawkers.
He went on to remind that hawkers cannot descend on the beach and cause nuisance to the visitors, saying those violating the rules are not only liable to pay fines, but arrest as well.
Incidentally, Ajgaonkar takes a vow to crack the whip on hawkers creating menace every time he is reminded of the hawkers posing nuisance to the visitors on Colva beach, the ground reality, however, has not changed for the better after the Tourism Minster’s warnings.
In fact, migrant hawkers seemed moving freely on the beach as if hawking has the government nod and not banned as claimed by the Tourism Minister.
When suggested that a mafia could be behind the presence of migrant hawkers operating on the world famous beach, the Tourism Minister said he would issue fresh directions to the tourism officials not to hesitate to crack the whip against the hawkers. “Since the tourism season is set to begin in the coming days, I will brief my officials to put a stop to the illegal vending by the migrant hawkers. I want to make it clear that the tourism officials as well as the police are empowered to impose fine and arrest the hawkers found loitering on the beach”, he said.
Hordes of migrant hawkers have already made their presence felt at the Colva beach, taking advantage of the arrival of domestic tourists, with an improvement in the Covid situation.
