Goemkarponn desk
CANACONA: The Palolem beach which gained a tag as a world-famous beach in the beginning of nineties today lies in a total state of neglect and cries for basic amenities like good approache road, changing and washrooms, parking spaces, proper illumination in the night and above all safety to those tourists who still arrive in hoards inspite of all the above difficulties.
Laxman Pagi, the newly elected councillor from the northern half of Palolem, speaking to media persons, lamented that the world-famous beach, which attracts lakhs of tourists every season, has not seen any development since the western tourists found the hidden paradise on the coastal state of Goa.
Palolem needs development from scratch, he added.
White tourists (referred to that time by Hippies) started coming to Palolem in the eighties. They were content in lying on the beach full day as not even locals used to go to the beach, and the local women were too shy to even come close to the beach, Natividad D’ Sa, a local who ran a sort of accommodation in Palolem informed.
But since then, the situation has seen a sea change. From a handful of foreign tourists today, the beach sees a footfall of lakhs of tourists, both foreign and local, increasing manifold. Still, facilities except restaurants and accommodation are as follows it is, he says.
Elaborating further, Pagi informed that the about 2km beach village gave Canacona taluka employment and sources of income. Still, no one thought it wise to invest in developing basic infrastructures like uninterrupted power supply, good roads, parking lots, washrooms, safety to tourists and proper illumination on the beach during night time.
Therefore, considering the present situation for the development of this area, it is our turn to do development work from scratch with the present and future in mind, Pagi added.
“The road leading to the shore is so narrow that hardly two cars can pass by each other”.
“Shops are erected on the edge of the road from old ice factory till the beach entrance, which is causing inconvenience to everyone, including tourists”.
A washroom built by spending over a crore of rupees besides the entrance of the beach has been more of a showpiece as it awaits
inauguration, the construction is completed on the land without conversion, he added.
During the tourism season, which starts from October till April, thousands of temporary rooms to let out to the tourists are built, hundreds of restaurants are put in place, hundreds of shops spring up, apart from installing a few transformers the electricity supply is pathetic as the voltage drops during night time to the inconvenience of everyone.
There are only two places to go to the sea on the far shore; in case of fire emergencies, it will be impossible for a fire engine to even come close to a spot of fire, and since the huts are made of natural material, any fire can burn the entire stretch before it can be controlled, many residents informed.
Looking at this grim reality, Pagi added that a hydraulic aqueduct must be laid on the entire length of the shore, Pagi said.
The roadside gutters are open and need to be covered with concrete slabs, the water conveying pipelines are to be replaced as the old one is too small in diameter. In contrast, the requirements for water has increased manifold, parking facilities or spots are to create, electricity conductors need to be replaced as they are rusted, mobile towers are to be erected for good mobile and internet connectivity if the government doesn’t provide these facilities than the hen which laid golden eggs will be gone forever Pagi warned.