The government has unveiled plans to develop a hinterland tourism circuit under the Swadesh Darshan 2.0 with Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte saying the project will start from Porvorim and move towards Mayem Lake and further north.
This is indeed a good move but the government needs to get its priorities right.
Tourism along the coastal belt is full of crime, filth, non-viable massage parlours resorting to prostitution for survival, dadagiri of outside hotel owners etc.
Murders and thefts are the order of the day with the police either acting dumb or hand-in-glove with the accused.
Our hinterland areas are clean, peaceful and the environment virgin. The government should think twice before replicating the tourism of the coastal belt in the hinterland areas.
In fact, the government must first have a clean, sustainable tourist culture in the coastal region and then only move on to the hinterland. But even decades later, they have not been able to do this.
We must think about what avenues we are keeping open for our future generations. There is no need to put all the eggs in one basket.
