Anjuna/Panaji, Jun 23 (IANS): A German Goaphile has appealed to the state's chief minister to cleane Goa's coastline of drugs and garbage which he said was giving the state a bad name and driving away foreign tourists.
The German, who has requested anonymity as he was not seeking publicity for himself, has asked Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to save the village of Anjuna as well as other coastal areas from the clutches of the drug mafia and the "nerve-racking and horrific" rave parties.
The chief minister's office has confirmed the receipt of the email.
"Drugs are openly pushed on roads, beaches, in front of drug-rave spots and the men in khaki (are) turning a blind eye and a deaf ear. Many are involved in drug rave parties - earning a slice of the big cake. The hobnobbing of policemen with drug dealers has to come to an end," the German whistleblower said in his letter to Parrikar.
The German national has even spelt out names of people and restaurants and beach-front establishments that deal in drugs and has demanded that Parrikar act.
"Drug trafficking and drug-rave parties give Anjuna beach the bad reputation as the best drug spot in all Goa - spread worldwide in international travel magazines and via social networks," the Goaphile complained, adding that the noise caused by raves is unbearable to the locals living in the vicinity.
Expressing his concern over the burgeoning problem of garbage management, the letter states that the sea in Goa was contaminated and was beginning to drive "foreign tourists to neighbouring states, where they can enjoy clean beaches and relaxed days and nights without the garbage, stink, drugs and crime".
A spokesperson for the Indo-German Friendship Society said that the concerns raised by the German national echoed the sentiments of its members, several of whom are Goans settled in Germany and Germans who regularly travel to Goa.
"German ladies are increasingly being molested on the beaches by domestic tourists who come from outside of Goa. It happens quite often that German ladies are even touched by Indian male tourists and asked to pose for a picture, hand in hand, with them," Germany-based Aurobindo Xavier, the society convenor, told IANS.
"Trafficking and the consuming of drugs, especially in north Goa, is a serious matter not only for Germans. Nobody likes to spend his vacations in a hotspot for drugs like it is in north Goa. Do we want Germans to come down to Goa to consume drugs? Is this the priority for tourist attraction," he asked.
Aurobindo, who has in the past made efforts to raise the issue of environment pollution as well as garbage management in Goa, said that the letter to the chief minister perfectly speaks for not only German Goa lovers, but Goans themselves.
"German tourists feel unpleasant seeing garbage piling up around in Goa. Unfortunately we Goans have been living a long time in denial of the garbage problem," Aurobindo said.
When contacted, a spokesperson for the chief minister's office (CMO) said that Parrikar was aware of the contents of the email. However, according to Aurobindo, there had been no official communication from the CMO even a month after the letter was received by Parrikar's office.