Pramod Sawant: There will be crackdown on drinking alcohol on beaches

The Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday said that there will be a crackdown on the drinking of alcohol on beaches after two male tourists, who were in an inebriated condition, drowned in Ashwem-Morjim beach. This statement comes after police in Goa had registered a case of 'unnatural death' after the deaths on Saturday.

Speaking to the media, the Chief Minister asserted, "From now onwards, there will be enforcement of the law to prevent people from drinking on beaches. Additional police forces have been pressed into beach safety duties to prevent a repeat of such incidents."

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'Unnatural death'

The Pernem Police Inspector Sandesh Chodankar said, "A case of unnatural death has been registered after two male tourists from Belgaum drowned at Ashwem-Morjim beach in North Goa." 

The two deceased were identified as Aditya Magadum (26) and Abhijeet Magadum (33), residents of Belgaum district in Karnataka. Chodankar said that another person, who was drowning in the beach, was saved by lifeguards. However, he was injured during the rescue operations. 

According to reports, since October this year, four persons drowned off the seas in Goa, while 175 persons were rescued by lifeguards. On November 7 alone, 16 persons were rescued while one person drowned off Goa's beaches. To bring down the number of mishaps, Goa Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar had reportedly urged the contractor to recruit more lifeguards on an urgent basis.

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State tourism law amended

On January 31, the Goa Assembly amended the state tourism law and made cooking and drinking alcohol in public places, including beaches and breaking of glass bottles in public, a criminal offence with fines of Rs 2,000.

According to an amendment to the Goa Tourist Places (Protection and Maintenance) Act, 2001, individual offenders will be fined Rs. 2,000 for offences; and if the offences are committed by more than one person, the group will have to pay Rs. 10,000. 

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(with ANI input)