MARGAO
Taking strong cognizance of unruly visitors targetting revenue officials enforcing wearing of masks along the beach belt, deputy Collector, Margao, Jyoti Kumari has issued directions to the Goa Police to provide police protection to the Mamlatdar officials and staff while on duty.
Sources said the deputy Collector has also decided to write to the Tourism department to put an awareness mechanism in place at the entrance to the beach belt, cautioning the domestic tourists to wear face masks or face the prescribed penalty.
These decisions were taken after a group of Salcete revenue officials faced the brunt of domestic tourists at Colva beach on Wednesday as they were discharging their duties of enforcing Covid-19 pandemic guideline, including social distancing.
Henceforth, officials attached to the Salcete Mamlatdar will receive police protection when the team descends in the taluka to enforce social distancing and to make the people wear face masks. But, given that the officials have decided to concentrate on the beach belt given the huge influx of domestic tourists, the Colva police will be required to provide protection to the revenue officials.
The revenue officials, who were on duty at Colva beach on Wednesday, had to face the brunt of a group of domestic tourists when they tried to challan them for not wearing masks. What made matters worse for the revenue officials was the fact that they were not provided with the police protection, leaving them with no option than to return back from Colva.
Incidentally, questions are raised why the task of reigning in on visitors or locals moving around sans masks is entrusted to the revenue officials when the police could have done the job much better.
It is not out of place to mention that the South Goa police during the stint of then SP, Arvind Gawas and DySP Serafino Dias, had booked hundreds of violators for moving around in public places without the mandatory face masks.
