Goa has a zero tolerance policy for drugs: Deputy CM Manohar Ajgaonkar

The 2010 Sunburn Festival in Candolim, Goa. Ajgaonkar said no call has been taken yet on hosting the 2021 Sunburn Festival in Goa. (Image: Vyacheslav Argenberg via Wikimedia Commons 4.0)

“Goa has a zero tolerance policy for drugs, and we do not want people who take drugs. To make Goa safe for tourists, this World Tourism Day (September 27), the state has created a special task force of 100+ Indian Reserve Police (IRP) personnel to man the beaches and report any illegal activity, including sale and consumption of drugs,” Manohar Ajgaonkar, the state’s deputy chief minister (CM) and minister for tourism and sports, told moneycontrol.com in an exclusive interview.

Ajgaonkar’s statement comes in the wake of the recent arrests by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in Mumbai on a Goa-bound cruise liner. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been fewer drug seizures in the state due to the absence of both domestic and foreign tourists but the Deputy CM is vehement about the state’s stance on keeping Goa drugs-free.

“Anti-narcotic law enforcement falls under the purview of the department of home, and the state is very strict about sale and consumption of drugs and psychotropic substances,” Ajgaonkar said.

Offences under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS), 1985, are non-bailable, and punishment can range from six months to a maximum of 30 years. There is provision for preventive detention, forfeiture of property and even the death penalty for certain offences under the Act.

According to the state’s Anti Narcotics Cell (ANC), between January and June this year, Goa police seized nearly 100 kilograms of drugs valued at over Rs 2 crore and arrested 55 persons for illegal possession of narcotics. North Goa saw a higher percentage of narcotic raids than South Goa - of the 55 narcotic raids, 30 cases were conducted in North Goa.

Menino D’Souza, director, Goa Tourism, reiterated Mr Ajgaonkar’s stance on the need to keep Goa safe as a family tourism destination. “We do not want drug peddlers and drug consumers to malign the image of Goa as a family tourist destination. Though the department of tourism is not directly responsible for enforcement of anti-narcotics law, but as stakeholders, we all want to keep Goa drug-free,” D’Souza said.

“During the pandemic Goa’s hospitality industry has struggled to stay afloat. With Goa hoping to attain its target of fully vaccinating its population by end of this month, we hope to see better times. Though Travel & Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) has so far not made any petition to the government about anti-narcotics processes specific to the hospitality industry, we do believe that as per the rule book, enforcement of law should be followed,” Nilesh Shah, president, TTAG, said.

Chartered flights may resume by mid-October

Preparations are on to resume chartered flights into Goa but the state government is still waiting for a final nod from the ministry of civil aviation. “We are hoping that chartered flights from various countries will resume by October 15. To ease the burden of airlines, the state government has also waived off landing charges for the chartered flights,” Ajgaonkar added.

It maybe recalled that scheduled international flights were suspended in March 2020 after a nationwide lockdown was imposed.

No RT-PCR required for fully vaccinated travellers

The state government has announced that a negative RT-PCR report won't be mandatory for fully vaccinated air/rail passengers entering Goa.

Sunburn Festival

“We have not taken a final call on the permission to host the Sunburn Festival later this year. It will depend on the Covid-situation,” Ajgaonkar said.

Sunburn Festival Goa, one of the most popular electronic dance music (EDM) festivals in Asia, had recorded attendance of 350,000 people in 2016 and around 200,000 people in 2019. In 2020, though the state government had granted 'in principle' permission to hold the festival in Vagator in the last week of December, it later revoked the permission due to surge in Covid infections.

Do drugs, win sunset view prison cell

Earlier this year, Goa Police’s ‘Do drugs, win sunset view prison cell’ cheeky advertisement in several local newspapers had the virtual world in splits. Adding ‘Report on 112’, the state's emergency helpline number, Goa Police urged people to inform them about drug peddlers and assured that ‘Your identify will be kept secret’.