The masks and social distancing have been made mandatory in the state of Goa and those who do not follow this will be fined. This is applicable to the tourists coming down to Goa. Now the Goa police will photograph the errant tourists before fining them for not wearing masks in public places.
Cracking the whip on tourists who refuse to wear face masks and argue against civic authorities, Panaji Mayor Uday Madkaikar said on Monday that police will henceforth accompany officials enforcing the norm and that errant tourists will be photographed and fined.
With more liberty in the state of Goa, the tourists started flooding and most of them do not bother to maintain any social distancing and neither wears masks.
Panaji is witnessing a huge flow of tourists due to the Casinos other places of interest that tourists want to visit when they are in Goa and one of them is the Church of Immaculate Conception at Panaji.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has repeatedly urged everyone to maintain social distance norms, wear face masks, and regularly use sanitisers to clean hands.
According to the reports, Madkaikar told the media that the decision of fining the tourists was taken after reports that certain tourists became abusive towards Panaji Municipal Corporation officials, especially those visiting the iconic Immaculate Conception Church in Panaji.
“In view of these unnecessary tussles, police will now accompany our municipality officials during drives to enforce the use of face masks in public. Photos of tourists who do not follow the rule will also be taken before they are directed to pay fines,” Madkaikar told reporters in Panaji.
Police will now accompany our municipality officials during drives to enforce the use of face masks in public.
“We do not want to harass people, but some tourists create a ruckus during our enforcement drives. This is a pan-India SOP. People should visit Goa, but they should not take the state’s people for granted. The objective of wearing masks is to keep everyone safe from coronavirus,” Madkaikar added.
We do not want to harass people, but some tourists create a ruckus during our enforcement drives. This is a pan-India SOP.
Goa has witnessed a steady trickle of tourists, ever since the state borders were reopened some months back. However, it has resulted in large crowds at popular beaches, sites of tourist interest as well as near casino hubs in the state.
The state government has doubled the fine from Rs 100 to 200 last week due to an increase in the violations from tourists arriving in Goa from the neighboring states.
(With the Inputs from IANS)
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