Photo credits: Hansel Vaz
article from heraldo dated 03/07/2015
The ' Clean Goan Beaches' initiative by the tourism department was launched a couple of months ago to ensure cleanliness on Goan beaches. Café decided to check whether or not the system works and found that it actually does
In a bid to improve the cleanliness on the beach, which will in turn boost the tourism in the state, the tourism department had started a novel initiative for maintaining cleanliness on Goan beaches a few months ago. The initiative, named ' Clean Goan Beaches', functions on public involvement where an individual is required to send a picture of garbage on any Goan beach and within 12 hours, as claimed, the garbage is cleared and a confirmation of it is sent in the form of a picture to the complainant. Café decided to check if the system works, so, on June 30, 2015 at 3.31 pm we sent a picture of garbage on Miramar beach to the designated number. We were pleasantly surprised to receive a picture from that number showing the same area free of garbage at 5.30 pm, that is, in 121 minutes.
Hansel Vaz from Benaulim was recently part of an exercise that unknowingly ended on a positive note. Hansel recollects, " I had taken a group of children to Betalbatim beach to collect shells and see the nets being pulled in. However, all we could see at that time was garbage strewn all over the beach. We were all genuinely upset as there was more garbage than shells. The garbage that is dumped in our waterways and drains goes into the sea and this time around, the sea spat it out. I decided to put up pictures on a public forum on Facebook. I was pleasantly surprised that these pictures reached the eyes of the government- deputed agency and it immediately sprung into action. Though it may be a very superficial exercise, I appreciate that at least someone in the government is listening. When did we last hear of the government listening to someone?" According to Tourism Director Ameya Abhyankar, the department has received good response to the initiative and people have appreciated the idea. This has further strengthened the comprehensive beach cleaning management initiative for clean beaches in Goa. Speaking about the details of the agency that actually carries out the task of garbage management, Abhyankar says, The government has contracted the comprehensive beach cleaning initiative to M/ s Bhumika Transport led consortium for North Goa and M/ s Ram Engineering and Construction Company led consortium for South Goa. These contractors have introduced the Whatsapp Initiative following directions given by the tourism department. Garbage collected from the beaches is segregated and disposal is carried out in a scientific manner as per the solid waste management rules and regulations." On a parting note, Hansel says, " I think the larger picture of educating people lies in educating people against dumping garbage in our water bodies. It is only when the dumping stops, that the garbage on the beach will too. And we cannot expect the government to keep cleaning after us. This is our Goa and we as residents have to take ownership and responsibility." Kishore Amati cafe@ herald- goa. com TWEETS @ THEAWESUMAMATI l If garbage is spotted on any Goan beach, people can take a picture of the garbage and send the picture and the location via WhatsApp to 7030077449 or 7030088669 l After receipt of the picture, the complainant receives a thank you message l The complaint is then forwarded to the site team which comprises the managers and supervisors l After the site is cleaned, the members of the site team take a picture of the cleaned area and forwards the same to the complainant This is how the system works
