PANAJI: Goa's town and country planning minister Vijai Sardesai said here on Friday that the domestic tourists visiting the state were ‘scum of the earth’. “Today, we have almost six times the population coming into Goa. Those tourists are not the top-end tourists, but scum of the earth,” Sardesai said.
He said the heavy influx of north Indian tourists was making it difficult for the state to address the issue of garbage. “We cannot make Goa another Gurugram. The north Indian states are responsible for the problems that Goa has today. The people coming from those states actually want to recreate Haryana in Goa,” he said.
Continuing to express reservations about cheap domestic tourists, town and country planning minister Vijai Sardesai on Friday appeared to subtly criticize the government’s policy to bring in 1.2 crore tourists into the state. Speaking at Goa Biz Fest, Sardesai said that the heavy influx of north Indian tourists was making it difficult for the state to address the issue of garbage and cleanliness.
Highlighting the rising problem of trash on the beach and in cities, Sardesai said that since tourist visits are very brief, there was no mechanism to control or educate them about keeping Goa clean. “How are you going to control these people? The north Indian states are responsible for the problems that Goa has today. The people coming from those states actually want to recreate Haryana in Goa,” he said.
“We will have to bring in laws which will tax you, fine you and compel you to follow the law,” he said.