Documented by Goa Desc Resource Centre Ph:2252660
Website: www.goadesc.org Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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------------------------------------ Tourism Infrastructure ------------------------------------ Since now that one element of the tourism infrastructure, beach safety, is getting a little attention can we hope that the tourism ministry and the tourism department will start paying a little attention to other aspects of the tourism infrastructure ?
From the perspective of both domestic and foreign tourists the biggest gap in the infrastructure is transport. On the one hand, in the absence of any kind of regulatory structure or the will to enforce even the regulations that exist on paper, the tourism season becomes synonymous with the extortion season.
The tourist taxi drivers of south Goa of course have gained legitimate notoriety. It will be recalled that one of the main organisers of the All India tent makers association complained bitterly that during their national convention held in Goa they were fleeced by the tourist taxi drivers. They were apparently charged between Rs 300 and Rs 400 for a distance of eight kilometres. And reports of tourist-taxi drivers beating up drivers of hotel coaches or even private vehicles of course have been routine. But presumably nothing can be done about this, because the tourist taxi drivers in the south Goa tourist belt have been smart enough to shift their allegiance from former strongman, Churchill Alemao to new strongman, Mickky Pacheco.
The tourist taxi drivers of south Goa are not, however, an exception. Everyone in the travel trade seems to think that all tourists are suckers and have only come to Goa to be relieved of their money. The rip off starts right at the airport. Goa is probably the only tourist destination which has legitimised the practice of return fare. For instance, if you wish to go to Panjim from the airport it will cost you Rs 350. Half of which is supposed to be the return fare to the airport. And if you are travelling to Anjuna or Morjim it will cost you more than the price of your air ticket from Mumbai to Goa.
After sunset of course the extortion intensifies.Tourist taxi drivers including the black tops and auto rickshaw drivers and even the humble motorcycle pilots will charge you and arm and a neck to reach your destination. And the brotherhood is so strong that anyone who agrees to be a little decent and charge you a less extortionate fare is likely to be beaten up.
We personally had this incredible experience not during the season, but at the off season. We had gone to Calangute and got delayed. And needed a tourist taxi because our friends had luggage. There were as many as 10 tourist taxis at the stand. But they all uniformly demanded Rs 300 to go to Dona Paula. And we had no choice as when the sun sets, public transport in the form of buses go off the roads.
The least that the traffic police which includes the tourism police and theRegional Transport Office can do is to ensure that public transport vehicles like tourist taxis, black top taxis, auto rickshaws charge only the specified rates . Even more important is to introduce buses after sunset till late in the evening at least in the coastal areas. There should also be connectivity from the coastal areas and the tourism spots to the nearest town or the hotels where the tourists are staying. This is because hundreds of thousands of domestic tourists who visit Goa just cannot afford the extortionate charges of tourist taxis or even operators.
Because of the lack of public transport after sunset the tourist day ends at sunset. The tourist cannot even attend any of the entertainment events outside the hotel because the cost of transport will be much higher than the entrance fee to these events. Even in the capital town Panjim, during the season, we have seen scores of tourists with children in town walking all the way to Miramar or wherever they are staying because there is no public transport and they do not want to indulge the extorionists.
The other dimension of infrastructure that needs urgent attention is street lights. All the rapes and the assaults that take place will be things of the past if the approach roads to tourist spots particularly the beaches are brightly lit. There is a quixotic or should we say Tublaqian dimension to the tourism department's approach to lighting tourist spots. On the beach itself you will find powerful high mast lamps which more often than not irritate rather than illuminate. But the approach road to many of the beaches will not have a single light. This is part of the reason why tourists who stay in hotels of the beach cannot even venture to the beach at night to patronise the beach shacks.
There are any number of hotels on the north of the Baga river which are only a kilometre from the beach. But after sunset the tourist cannot go to the beach for fear of getting mugged.
We want tourists to come to Goa, the more the merrier. And with doubts raised about the safety of drinking water obviously tourists will carry mineral water bottles with them. And if they carry mineral water bottles they need to be disposed. Otherwise Goa's beaches will be full of plastic litter. Domestic tourists may not mind the plastic litter. Regrettably, we are a nation of litterers. But if our beaches are full of plastic litter, we don't think foreign tourists who are a little more fastitidious will enjoy the tourism experience so much. So can we hope that with the World Tourism Day starting on September 27 that some effective mechanism would be put in place to deal with plastic litter?
Tourists come to Goa for the sun, the sea and sand. And the churches and the temples. The potential for eco tourism also is vast. We do not need ropeways or skybuses. We do not need international film festivals or large convention halls. Maybe we need them but they are not the top priority. The top priority is to do something about the little things. The top priority is to make sure that the private public transport lobby consisting of tourist taxis and other rickshaws are disciplined. The need is to have public transport after sunset. The need is for proper lighting of the approaches to touristic places. The need is for drinking water on the beaches which is guaranteed to be jaundiced.
Maybe the tourism convention coming up in October will find just alittle time to address themselves to these little problems which demand our urgent attention. ----------------------------------------------- Editorial in HERALD 27/9/03 page 6 ----------------------------------------------
======================================= GOA DESC RESOURCE CENTRE Documentation + Education + Solidarity 11 Liberty Apts., Feira Alta, Mapusa, Goa 403 507 Tel: 2252660 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] website: www.goadesc.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Working On Issues Of Development & Democracy =======================================
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