PANAJI: The government will examine whether it can impose a ban on the sale of liquor in glass bottles along the coastal belt or issue necessary directions to wine stores in the area, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said in the Assembly today.
The proposal follows rising concerns over tourist injuries caused by broken glass bottles and plastic litter on beaches. The matter was raised by Calangute MLA Michael Lobo, who said wine stores located barely 15 metres from the beach were selling chilled beer in glass bottles to tourists. “The sale of glass bottles along the coast should be banned. They can sell cans if they want,” he urged.
Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte termed the issue “serious” and reiterated that public drinking has already been declared a nuisance under the amended Goa Registration of Tourist Trade Act, 2001 and the Goa Tourist Places (Protection and Maintenance) Act, 2001. He added that fines for such violations have been increased from Rs 5,000 to Rs 50,000, and that a deposit refund scheme for glass bottles will be implemented shortly.
“Tourists come here and behave as if the beaches belong to their fathers. They misuse public spaces and think ‘kuch bhi kar sakte hai, ” Khaunte remarked.
He added that the government is not only focused on penalising tourists. “It’s not only about fining the tourists and giving a wrong message. We need solutions. Within this Assembly, we will have a meeting with the CM and ensure this implementation is properly timelined,” Khaunte said.
Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao criticised what he called poor implementation and a lack of seriousness. “Keeping beaches clean is the government’s responsibility. Ecostan Infra Pvt Ltd was fined Rs 10 lakh for failing to maintain cleanliness. We must implement Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and fine alcohol and plastic manufacturers heavily. Goa should be a model state,” he said.
AAP MLA Venzy Viegas pointed out that while Section 13 of the Goa Tourist Places (Protection and Maintenance) Act came into effect nearly 10 years ago, it is yet to be properly enforced. “The tourism website should mention that glass bottles are banned on beaches. This should be widely promoted through roadshows,” he said.
GFP MLA Vijai Sardesai questioned the gap between high-value tenders and actual cleaning on beaches. “The beach cleaning contract is worth Rs 90 crore, out of which Rs 17 crore goes to Drishti Marine. But Colva has only seven cleaners, Calangute six, and Baga just five,” he pointed out.
In response, Khaunte said that under the new contract, 50 beaches covering 82.2 km have been brought under the scope of work. Additionally, 102 dead ends have been included following requests from MLAs and panchayats. “We have 525 workers on the ground, working in different shifts round-the-clock since March 1,” he said.
Khaunte added that the government is open to roping in local Self-Help Groups (SHGs) to assist with beach cleaning efforts if they express interest.
