'Order for crackdown on illegal activities in tourism gives powers to Cops'

The order issued recently by the Goa government to crack down on illegal activities in the tourism sector has empowered the police department to take stringent action against the violators including their arrest a state minister saidTalking to reporters here Goa Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte on Thursday said the illegal activities listed in the order earlier only attracted fines but the police have now been given powers under section 188 of the Code of Criminal Procedure CrPC to arrest those found flouting rulesThe Goa government issued the order signed by state Director of Tourism Nikhil Desai on MondayThe department has prohibited 10 activities including operation of all boatingwater sports activities from areas other than those permitted and conducted within demarcated zones domestic tourists cooking by the roadside and creating nuisance driving vehicles on beaches touting or selling of cruise boat tickets and any other tickets of tourist activities at places other than authorised ticketing counters and officesThe activities related to selling of itemsgoods from unauthorised handcarts and unauthorised hawkers would be banned in tourist places the order statedAlso Read Mumbai Police advisory for property owners Follow these 5 steps to registerThe minister said that in the past all these illegal activities attracted only fineMoreover if the violator was not ready to pay a fine the police could not punish him further But now the powers are vested with the police under section 188 of CrPC to imprison him Khaunte saidThis order is a major step towards eradicating the wrongdoings in the tourism sector and providing good experience for the travellers visiting the state he addedAccording to the minister the recentlydrafted Jetty Policy is also a step forward to regularise the working at tourism jetties which are currently witnessing a lot of illegal activities like unauthorised guiding or toutingOn the opposition from some quarters to the proposed Jetty Policy the minister said some elements were misleading people about itWrong impression is created that we want to encourage coal transport in the state through this policy and that it would affect the traditional fishermen he saidThe state tourism department had invited suggestions and objections to the Jetty Police But it was noticed that the majority of suggestions or objections were cutandpaste jobs done from one document into another he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever