A DAY AFTER TOURISM MINISTER SAYS NO PLACE FOR HAWKERS, THEY CONTINUE TO MAKE MERRY; LOCALS WANT FIRM ACTION
MARGAO
Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar was at Colva beach square during the weekend to launch infrastructure projects at the world-famous location.
He never even descended on the silver sands of the iconic beach, but thundered during his address that there was no place for hawkers and vendors on the entire coast. Ajgaonkar even went a step ahead to tell the media that the Goa government has put a law in place, barring vending and vendors on the beach belt.
It’s unclear whether Ajgaonkar’s message had reached the hordes of migrant hawkers and vendors swarming around the world-famous beach at any given point in time. And, it’s unclear whether Ajgaonkar had lent his ears to local MLA Churchill Alemao, who bitterly complained that the menace of migrant hawkers and vendors may keep tourists away from the beach.
The Tourism Minister later challenged the media to click photographs of the hawkers on Colva beach, saying the tourism wardens, besides the police, are on the job to stop hawking on the beach belt.
Ajgaonkar’s bold statement has not changed the ground reality. Migrant hawkers and vendors make merry on Colva beach, leaving locals confused whether the Tourism Minister’s writ runs large on the beach belt, or whether he is simply fooling the people with tall claims on cracking a whip against hawking.
Residents want the Tourism Minister to listen to the speech of the area MLA Churchill Alemao, who was categorical in saying that migrant hawkers have become a menace for tourists at the iconic beach.
“The local MLA was clear in saying migrant hawkers are all swarming on the Colva beach right under the nose of the law-enforcing agencies, including the tourist police”, a local said, while demanding that the Tourism Minister should stop fooling the people and concentrate on concrete action.
In fact, caught on the wrong foot over the presence of hawkers at the Colva beach, the Tourism Minister directed his ire at the media for not highlighting the issue of hawking, little realizing that the tourism department has been indifferent to the menace of hawkers and vendors on the iconic beach.
“You (media) should highlight the issue of hawkers and vendors and also send the photographs to me so that I can take action”, Ajgaonkar thundered before the media, only raising questions whether the tourism department has no mechanism in place to rid the beach belt of the hawkers and beggars.
Only recently, Tourism Director Menino D’Souza had dashed off a letter to the Colva police to crack a whip against hawkers, but in vain.
