the goan I network
MARGAO
Waste and litter welcomed visitors to the world-famous Colva beach as garbage piling up here with no beach contractor around to clean up the area.
A waste dump just behind the shacks right on the beach has become an eyesore for tourists and visitors alike as waste collection has stopped since the last couple of days.
The situation was no better right at the beach entrance as bottles and other waste was found lying in the water body for want of collection.
A number of empty waste bins lay dumped just behind the Drishti life guard tower.
Inquiries revealed that waste bins from other places such as Sernabatim were also brought to Colva by the Drishti supervisors to be handed over to the Tourism
department.
Around a dozen gunny bags stacked with waste were lying at the beach entrance at the creek on Saturday
morning.
A Drishti supervisor later collected the bags in a van for transportation to Benaulim.
Sources said that before the contractor stopped the collection of waste, the collected waste from Colva and other beaches along the Salcete belt was transported to the Saligao plant for disposal.
Activist Alex D’Souza cried foul over the pathetic situation at Colva with waste left uncollected on the beach for days now.
“Instead of launching two-wheelers, the Tourism department should concentrate on how to tone up the tourism infrastructure, including beach cleaning. The department ought to have taken measures in advance to ensure there’s no gap after the expiry of the beach cleaning contract,” he said.
Alex also lamented that plans to tone up the amenities for visitors and tourists have failed to take off at Colva.
“We can only see foundation stones that were laid to take up tourism beautification projects, but not a single project has seen the light of day at Colva till date,” he lamented.
