News Articles
Goaâs beauties scarred by garbage
BY HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, FEB 4 â After Panjim, the problem of solid waste management â collection, treatment and disposal â is now raising its ugly head in coastal areas.
That garbage has become a menace along the coastal belt is evident from the overflowing waste dumps and littered roads.
But the Tourism Department that is responsible for maintaining cleanliness, has so far failed to appoint a contractor to clean up beaches even as the tourism season is midway.
This irresponsible behaviour of the tourism department has left tourists, shack operators and locals frowning.
Though the entire coastal belt is reeling under the garbage menace, the worst hit places are Anjuna, Baga, Calangute in the North and Pallolem, Cavelossim and Colva in the South.
When contacted, the tourism department was tight lipped on the garbage problem along the beaches and appointing a contractor to clean up the same.
According to locals, the problem has been further aggravated by the irresponsible disposal of waste by shacks and eateries on open space and in thick vegetation in the late hours.
However, President of Shack Operators Association Cruz Cardozo denied that the shacks and eateries were contributories to the problem. He squarely blamed the tourism departmentâs failure to appoint a contractor for the situation.
He said that he was aware of the acute garbage problem and that he was receiving of flurry complaints on the same.
âI will be discussing this issue with the tourism department as it is a matter of concern to us as well,â Cardozo said.
According to Calangute Sarpanch Joseph Sequiera, âthe cleaning of the beach is the responsibility of the director of tourism.â
As there is no proper mechanism to dispose off the garbage, pollution is increasing along the coastal belt. Moreover, thick smoke and fishy stink invariably pervades the air every morning, as someone sets the garbage alight.
Some locals claim that shack owners and tourists contribute to the major chunk of beach stink and garbage, while others allege that in the absence of proper toilet facilities migrant workers including tourists defecate on the beach. Also tourist police are often seen urinating at the garbage site in broad daylight.
Meanwhile, a contractor who has experience in cleaning up the coastal belt opines that the problem could easily be solved if segregation of garbage is done at source thereby reducing the quantum of waste.
He suggested that interested parties could lift empty bottles and recyclable waste by paying a fee.
