Infuriated with drunk-tourists, Goa villagers want bars to shut down
What's the story
The residents of Surla village, North Goa, have had enough of drunk tourists creating a ruckus and are now demanding the closure of bars in the area. The infuriated villagers have passed a resolution. They want the bars to be either relocated or shut altogether. Sarika Gaonkar, sarpanch, Thana-Dongurli said intoxicated tourists harassed locals, and such incidents have increased in the last five years.
The location
The location of village ensures it's visited by tourists
The village borders the Western Ghat and during monsoons, a lot of tourists flock the area to watch the waterfall. Many tourists from Karnataka also come to the locality to buy alcohol, which is cheaper than their state owing to the low liquor taxes. While the visits benefit some villagers, most of them stay upset with the rowdy actions of the tourists.
The problem
Semi-nude tourists pass comments on girls, create nuisance
Shedding light on ruckus created by inebriated tourists, Goankar said most of them are young and come in groups. "Sometimes, they are drunk so bad that they do not have anything other than their undergarments on," she added. They even pass lewd comments on young girls and women, making life difficult. She added theirs was a small village and everyone keeps busy with farming.
Details
Resolution is with panchayat, villagers to approach government formally
Many a times, the drunk tourists fight with bar owners and alcohol vendors. Considering these issues, almost 500 villagers have signed the resolution demanding the closure of nine bars. The resolution is addressed to Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and has signatures of students too. For now, the resolution is within the panchayat and the distressed villagers are yet to approach the government formally.