Goa bans drinking alcohol on beaches

April 24, 2013 04:54 pm | Updated 04:54 pm IST - Panaji

The Mira marg beach in Goa. Liquor is prohibited in Goa beaches, according to Goa Tourism's new directive.

The Mira marg beach in Goa. Liquor is prohibited in Goa beaches, according to Goa Tourism's new directive.

Goa government has banned drinking liquor on beaches in a bid to curb littering and nuisance caused to women tourists.

However, one can continue to enjoy drinks at designated places such as beach shacks, Goa Tourism Director Nikhil Desai told PTI.

“The ban has been imposed under Goa Tourist Places (Protection and Maintenance) Act which gives the right to the state government to ban things which create nuisance in the tourism zones. The act envisages to protect and maintain the tourist places from deterioration and erosion and preserve the tourism potential”, he said.

India Reserve Battalion (IRB), a wing of Goa Police, manning the law and order on beaches, is asked to implement the order with immediate effect. “The violation will attract arrest”, Mr. Desai added.

Mr. Desai clarified that the prohibition order is not applicable to drinking in licensed shacks or any other places where retail sale of liquor is allowed.

The ban is the fallout of mounting complaints by tourists getting injured by broken bottles littering beaches and of nuisance against women tourists by drunk hoodlums loitering beaches.

A favoured tourist destination, Goa attracts around 2.4 million tourists annually, chunk of whom are domestic.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.