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Goa beaches likely to be privatised

Sandesh Prabhudesai, in Panaji

Amidst speculations and murmurs of protest, Goa is planning to privatise the management of its famous beaches, in order to keep them clean and make them commercially viable.

"No beach will be privatised, but only its management", clarifies Goa's Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. The plan perhaps mooted for the first time In India is yet to take shape.

The plan already has detractors. Nirmala Sawant, the Goa PCC chief and a Congress legislator, is not in favour of privatising the beaches as she feels that management control by private firms would not make much of a difference.

"Beach is a public place and it should not be privatised", she says.

While the government is yet unclear about the terms and conditions of privatisation, locals fear that they may be simply stopped from entering the beach area, without paying a prescribed fee.

At least two such public beaches in Panaji have 'gone totally into the hands' of big five-star resorts -- during the Congress regime -- who have cordoned them in such a way that no layman can enter the area without going through the hotel corridors.

On an experimental basis, Parrikar now plans to privatise beach cleaning, management and entertainment facilities at Miramar in Panaji, Calangute in North Goa and Colva in South Goa - three of the most famous beaches of the tourist state.

The plan is to lease out some land, adjacent to the beach, to private parties for 20 years where they can earn through pay parking, restaurant, amusement parks and some water sports facilities.

In return, they will keep the beach clean and take up the job of life-guards to provide protection to the visitors.

"Going by past records -- where public places like gardens are leased out to private parties -- we are worried because such privatisation ultimately prevents local public from using them and they soon cease to be a public place", states Manoj Joshi, a resident of Panaji.

"I will form committees of local citizens for each beach to monitor its functioning", states Parrikar.

Though the CM plans to prepare modalities after seeking public opinion on the concept, Joshi is worried that it may be just an eye-wash.

The chief minister, who is also the Panaji MLA, however appears helpless as he admits that the tourism department is not capable of implementing the beach cleaning operation as well as life guard facility very efficiently.

In spite of spending around Rs 5 million annually over beach cleaning operation, the beaches are still full of plastic bottles, bags and all kinds of waste. There is also no way to prevent some young tourists from throwing broken beer bottles in the sand.

Drowning cases are also on the rise as inebriated people tourists refuse to listen to the life guards and venture out in the sea.

Already there have been a few deaths -- and the season has just started.
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