Any further increase in tourist entry will finish Goa: Churchill

NT NETWORK
Posted on 2009-06-05
PANAJI- The South Goa strongman and present PWD Minister, Mr Churchill Alemao categorically stated that he was against any increase in the number of tourists coming to the state and rejected the need for construction of another airport.
Raising the bogey of Goa being swamped by outsiders, and Goans being sidelined, he further stated that he was concerned about the future generations.
Whatever tourists are coming by the present airport (Dabolim) are enough. If more tourists come then Goans will be finished,” he declared, reiterating, “This airport is enough and we do not need more tourists, this is clear.”
If instead of 4 lakh tourists 50 lakh come, what is the future of Goans?” he asked, saying that he was “thinking of the future generations.”
He said that he had to think of the future generations as his time was up and questioned where all the people who were working abroad would stay when they returned.
He blamed the authorities for not having any planning and warned that this would prove detrimental to Goans.
It must be noted that tourism contributes almost Rs 1,500 crore to the state’s revenue and almost 50 per cent of the total budget expenses are met from this.
Stressing the point that the Goan landmass was limited, he made a passing reference to the fact that some people had come to him with the proposal that two villages comprising of almost three thousand square kilometrers made up of Konkani-speaking people in Karwar Karnataka were interesting in merging with Goa.
He said that in case the state was interested, it would double the size of Goa (Goa’s landmass 3702 square kilometres)
It may be recalled that it was only in the mid-eighties when the first charter flights arrived that laidback Goa began to change, and its sleepy demeanour gave way to commercial tourism with the number of visitors skyrocketing from 1,26,130 in 1996 to 23,42,649 in 2006.
Calangute, known as the ‘Queen’ of Goan beaches, became a tourist’s favourite from the ‘60s and early ‘70s while Baga, a little further north, one of the most famous belts in South-East Asia today, was once a
relaxed place.
Today it is overflowing with shacks, restaurants, hotels and many-a-times it is difficult to walk on the beach as the beach beds are placed almost to the water’s edge,
during peak season.