Goemkarponn desk
PORVORIM: A whopping Rs 26.10 has been paid by the Goa Tourism Department for Beach cleaning to the two contractors.
Ina written reply to Calangute MLA Michael Lobo, Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte said that M/s Drishti Lifesaving Pvt. Ltd. was paid Rs.4,31,44,823/- for services from 01/04/2019 to 30/09/2019 and M/s Karnataka Commercial and Industrial Corporation Pvt. Ltd. was paid Rs.21,78,60,000/- for the duration from 01/10/2019 to 30/02/2022.
Khaunte said the Department has appointed M/s Karnataka Commercial and Industrial Corporation Pvt. Ltd. Bangalore to provide beach cleaning services on the nominated beach stretches in the State of Goa w.e.f. 01/10/2019
“The Department of Tourism has deployed Taluka Level Supervisor, and Wardens at various beach stretches across the State of Goa. The Taluka Level Supervisors and Wardens inspect the beach stretches daily and submit reports to the Department on the status of beach cleaning. Besides, the Department, in association with Goa Electronics Ltd., has developed a Mobile App for online submissions of daily beach cleaning status reports for effective monitoring,” he said.
Khaunte says the Supervisors engaged by the Beach Cleaning Contractor have to capture videos of the status of the beach stretches (200 meters each per video) and upload them on the Mobile App.
The App facilitates the Taluka Level Supervisors/ Wardens to view the videos uploaded by the Supervisors of the beach cleaning Contractor.
“The taluka Level supervisor and Wardens, after conducting beach inspections, submit a report on the App. When beach stretches are found to be dirty or not cleaned by the Beach Cleaning Contractor, the Taluka Level Supervisor and Wardens capture the videos and report the same violations in accordance with the facility available in the App,” he said.
The violations reported by the Taluka Level Supervisor/Wardens send a notification directly to the Beach Cleaning Contractor and the location of the beach stretch. The Beach Cleaning Contractor thereafter has to clean the area within 2 hours from reporting the violations and, after cleaning, has to capture the photos of the same and upload the same on the App for information and disposal of the case of violation reported on the App.
On the complaint about beach cleaning, he said the Department is monitoring the work through the beach cleaning Mobile App as mentioned above.
When the issues related to garbage and overall cleaning of the beaches occurs, the Contractor resolves the same instantly. Suppose any violation is not cleared or cleaning of the particular beach stretch is not initiated by the Contractor. In that case, the same is reported on the App by Supervisors/Wardens deployed by this Department and accordingly, the Contractor is penalized for the same as per the penalty to be levied in terms of the agreement entered with the Beach cleaning Contractor, he said.
