Panaji: In a strong move against the growing menace of illegal touting along Goa’s beaches, tourism director Kedar Naik has written to SP (North Goa) and SP (tourist), seeking an immediate crackdown on touts and unauthorised solicitation activities across the North Goa coastal belt.Naik’s letter was triggered after a tout manhandled a local journalist at Baga on Friday around midnight. The tout fled through a nearby restaurant and the tourism department has urged police to conduct an “immediate investigation” into the alleged incident.“The tourism department takes such allegations seriously, particularly when they concern the safety of persons engaged in their professional duties and activities that may adversely affect the experience and perception of tourists visiting Goa,” said Naik’s letter to police.The tourism department has called for strict legal action and a direct inquiry into unauthorised solicitation activities in the area. Naik said that Baga and Calangute are core tourist hubs where the failure to maintain a safe and welcoming environment poses a severe threat to Goa’s broader tourism ecosystem.The scuffle between the tout and the journalist underscores a rapidly deteriorating enforcement crisis along Goa’s beaches, where persistent illegal activities continue to tarnish the state’s global reputation despite ongoing penal measures.Official enforcement data recorded up to Sept 30 reveals that authorities registered 2,992 cases and collected Rs 13.3 lakh in fines this year across various tourism-related offences, yet rampant violations persist. The data highlights a pervasive culture of impunity, including 1,159 violations under the Goa Non-Biodegradable Garbage Control Act yielding Rs 1.1 lakh in fines, 691 Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act violations generating Rs 1.3 lakh, and 653 instances of public smoking and spitting under the 1997 act resulting in Rs 65,300 in penalties.More critically, targeted measures against public safety and beach integrity have seen 101 cases of vehicles driven onto beaches incurring Rs 4.6 lakh in fines, 75 drinking-in-public cases amounting to Rs 3.7 lakh, 60 hawking cases netting Rs 50,000, and 25 touting cases accumulating Rs 1.1 lakh in fines.Condemning the assault, tourism minister Rohan Khaunte called for a crackdown on illegal operators. Stating that those responsible will face strict action, he said state urgently needs more proactive citizens to help eradicate the deep-seated original maladies currently affecting Goa’s tourism sector.He said that police need to enforce the law to “weed” out touts. “Touts are not just selling tickets along the shore for watersports but they spoil the name of Goa by giving so many other services that Goa is not known for,” said Khaunte.The tourism minister said that he will once again raise the issue with the chief minister as things have “gone out of hand” along the coast right from Panaji to Vagator and Anjuna. Calangute MLA Michael Lobo said that he has asked the Calangute PI to arrest all the touts operating along the coastal belt and impose a fine of Rs 5,000 on each of them. “I don’t want even a single tout. Nobody wants touts in Calangute,” he said.
