VASCO
Vasco BJP MLA Carlos Almeida on Friday said the port town would develop and prosper if Baina Beach was awarded the Blue Flag certification.
Speaking to reporters after a news conference at Ravindra Bhavan, Almeida said despite being connected by all four modes of water, road, rail and air transport, Vasco was lacking economically and had been struggling for business.
"Vasco has a beautiful beach in Baina, but unfortunately its image was tarnished because it was a red-light area. It was former CM late Manohar Parrikar who cleared all beachside cubicles and made the beach available for public.
“After the red-light area was cleared, there was no business. Since the last three years, we have noticed a large number of tourist are arriving and there were over 4,000 people who came to the beach last season for watersports alone.”
“There are many others who visit the beach, swim in the waters, etc. and I put a proposal to the government to have the beach certified as a Blue-Flag beach. Some beaches in other states have been certified as Blue Flag beaches, taking the locality to a different level and cities around those beaches have prospered," said Almeida.
He said fishermen are also present on those Blue Flag beaches and did not have any objections, as they were doing good business as well.
“Initially, there was opposition to the Blue Flag certification in Miramar because the people were not guided properly.
Vasco is a last stop for many tourists and visitors as we have railway station, port and an airport as well. This is the best place for business.”
“A Blue Flag certification is not easy to obtain and there are strict norms to be followed. We can't interfere and the assessment will be done by professionals.”
“I only want Baina Beach to have a Blue Flag certification because business in Vasco will prosper and all Vascokars will benefit from this," added Almeida.
