The Goa cabinet yesterday amended the Registration of Tourist Trade Act to take on badly-behaved tourists as well as illegal online service providers. To begin with, impromptu alcohol-fuelled beach parties will no longer be tolerated.
"People found creating nuisance like drinking in public or cooking in the open will be fined... While an individual will be fined Rs 2,000, a group indulging in such an offence will be charged Rs 10,000," Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar told the media on Thursday, adding that in case the fine is not paid, the offender can face imprisonment of up to three months.
This development is in line with Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's long-standing promise to ban drinking of liquor in public places. He had promised to amend the laws to this effect in September 2017, a few months after the North Goa District Police had ordered a crackdown against drinking at public places following complaints filed by the locals. The latter were reportedly sick of the nuisance created by drunken revellers, including breaking bottles on the beaches.